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A 35-year-old woman, Zhao Lin, has admitted to physically abusing her domestic worker repeatedly, The Straits Times (ST) reported.
Occasionally, some of these acts took place in front of her four-year-old son.
In total, Zhao pleaded guilty to four counts of voluntarily causing hurt, as well one count of mischief, for throwing the victim's phone on the floor, which damaged it.
Four related charges will also be taken into consideration for Zhao's sentencing.
She had worked as a nurse at the time of her offences.
Abuse started in mid-2017
The domestic worker, Ma Ei, came to Singapore from Myanmar and began working for Zhao's family from early 2016, who was her first employer.
Ma was aged 23 at this time and initially earned a salary of S$500.
The abuse started from the middle of 2017, when Zhao began to hit Ma on some occasions if she was unhappy with the domestic worker's work or attitude.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia was further quoted by Today as saying that Ma's salary would also be cut by about S$100 to S$200 for each "mistake", such as breaking bowls or scratching the cupboard of Zhao's son.
Abused three times by Zhao on Aug. 25, 2018
On Aug. 25, 2018, Zhao slapped Ma 10 times on her cheeks as she deemed that the domestic worker had failed to put away the toys of her son properly.
Zhao also threatened Ma by saying, "I will do it until you are really, really scared."
She then slapped Ma several times again later on the same day, and also shouted at the domestic worker while she was cleaning the room.
Zhao then kicked Ma on her leg, and hit her on the face and arm when the domestic worker gave a reply.
The scene was witnessed by Zhao's son, who asked his mother what the domestic worker did wrong.
According to ST, Zhao replied, "Sister did wrong, sister hit mum."
Following this incident, Ma called the police.
Zhao hit her again after the phone call.
When the police arrived, Zhao refused to show them the footage from CCTVs installed in her home.
The footage was subsequently provided by Zhao's husband who told the police about the memory cards installed in the CCTVs.
Meanwhile, Ma was sent to the hospital where she was found to have a bruise on her forehead and multiple abrasions.
Under the penal code, a count of voluntarily causing hurt carries a fine of up to S$5,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both.
In addition, the accused faces up to one-and-a-half times these penalties should the offence be committed against a domestic worker.
As for the one count of mischief, Zhao faces up to a year in prison, a fine, or both.
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