Maid in S'pore grabs 94-year-old employer's cane after he asks her to make food, he falls & hits head

A domestic helper has been sentenced to eight weeks' jail after causing her 94-year-old employer to fall and hit his head at home.

It happened as she grabbed and wrestled the elderly man's walking stick from his hands, because he had knocked on her door repeatedly to ask her to prepare food for him.

The helper, 31-year-old Sulastri Wulandari, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14 to one charge of causing hurt, and was sentenced that same day.

What happened

According to court documents, Wulandari was working as a helper for the victim, Thoo Yong Huat, at the time of the offence on Feb. 21, 2026.

At about 10:40pm that night, she was resting in her room when Thoo knocked on her door.

When she opened the door, he told her he was hungry and wanted her to prepare food for him.

She told him off as he had just finished dinner, and closed her door.

However, Thoo continued to knock on her door. When she opened her door a second time, she saw the victim with his walking stick raised in mid-air.

At this moment, Wulandari "lost her cool" and grabbed the walking stick, trying to snatch it away from her elderly employer.

They struggled for the stick for about 20 seconds. Wulandari pushed Thoo repeatedly trying to pry the stick from his hands.

Thoo subsequently lost his balance and fell backwards onto the floor, causing him to hit the back of his head against a wall.

As a result of the impact, he suffered a 2cm laceration on the scalp and a left subdural haemorrhage.

Wulandari was arrested after Thoo's daughter reported her to the police on Mar. 13 for pushing and injuring her father.

Apologised

In her mitigation plea, Wulandari apologised for not taking good care of the elderly man, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Unrepresented in court, she asked for leniency, saying that she was aware of her wrongdoing.

The prosecutor, however, sought a sentence of nine weeks in jail.

They argued that since Wulandari was hired to take care of Thoo, she should have known that he was physically frail and vulnerable, and still she acted so rashly and endangered his safety.