A Singapore woman appealed online for information on her domestic worker after returning home to find the worker had run away and taken her passport from a locked drawer.

Ika Lestari, 40, shared the incident on Facebook on Jan. 5, 2024.

Threatened by numerous unlicensed moneylenders

Speaking to Mothership, Ika said she was on her way home from work on Jan. 4 when her 32-year-old worker, Maemanah, reached out to ask her for help transferring money.

Maemanah then admitted that she had been borrowing money from unlicensed moneylenders and gave these moneylenders her employer's number.

After that, Ika began to receive messages from moneylenders as the moneylenders were getting "impatient". The moneylenders even sent her messages with her worker in front of their home gate, stating that they knew Ika's address.

Maemanah told Ika that she had initially borrowed only S$400.

Ika's husband, who was not in Singapore, contacted the moneylenders, who threatened them if they did not settle payment.

One messaged Ika, asking her if she could "(sic) settle in nice way or want to use a harsh way".

Ika's husband then paid the moneylender S$800.

However, they soon discovered it was not the only moneylender Maemanah owed money.

After talking more with her worker, she found her worker borrowed S$2,300.

Ika admitted that while she was upset, she thought about her children's safety and decided to pay off the debt for Maemanah, which amounted to S$3,950, including interest.

Ika thought it was the end as her worker appeared desperate, stating that she would work to pay off the debt.

"We thought we could come up with an instalment plan where her pay could be offset in the next few months," she added.

She also took Maemanah's passport and locked it in a drawer.

Left in the middle of the day

On Jan. 5, Ika said that more moneylenders were messaging her for money at around 1:15pm.

She tried contacting Maemanah but realised she was not answering her text messages.

This prompted her to ask her husband to check the CCTV cameras in their house to see where Maemanah was. However, there was no movement in the house, and it was almost time for Ika's children to return home.

Ika kept calling her home phone number, but no one answered. She then tried calling Maemanah's mobile but was ignored.

At around 1:50pm, one of her children answered the phone, saying no one was home.

Ika immediately left her workplace and went home.

She did a check and discovered that nothing was stolen.

However, she discovered that the drawer with Maemanah's passport was opened. Maemanah apparently used a kitchen knife to pry open the drawer, and Ika discovered the knife outside her house along the corridor.

Maemanah left behind half of her clothes, only taking whatever she could fit in two pieces of luggage, Ika added.

Lodged police report

Ika wrote on Facebook that she lodged a police report to find her worker and against the harassment from the moneylenders she was still getting.

Maemanah's work pass has also been revoked, and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) have been notified, Ika told Mothership.

Ika said she never expected to get into this situation and did not expect Maemanah to borrow money from moneylenders.

She said the agency didn't offer much help as they only apologised and told her they would send a replacement.

As for her family, Ika shared that her children were traumatised, and her family were getting more paranoid. They even changed the locks of their door to a digital lock.

Ika has asked anyone who has seen Maemanah to message her so that she can inform the investigating officer.

Top photos via Ika Lestari/Facebook