Indonesian maid in alleged abuse case given support and assistance: Centre for Domestic Employees

SINGAPORE: The Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) on Thursday (Apr 29) said it is currently assisting an Indonesian foreign domestic worker who was allegedly abused by her employer.

CDE said that Ms Sugiyem Samad Radimah had been repatriated to Indonesia by her former employer and that they had learnt of her case last year through the Indonesian media.

“Upon finding out more details of her injuries through our volunteers in Indonesia, we proceeded to lodge a police report in Singapore then about the alleged abuse that Sugiyem underwent.

“Over the past months, our team has been working with the Indonesian Embassy, the authorities and our partners to extend to Sugiyem the assistance she needed,” said CDE.

Ms Sugiyem’s former employer was charged on court on Wednesday for allegedly abusing her and failing to pay her on time.

READ: Woman charged for abusing maid, failing to pay salary on time

Court documents also showed that Ummi Kalsum Ali neglected to provide medical attention and treatment to Ms Sugiyem on several occasions.

When Ms Sugiyem was able to travel back to Singapore recently, CDE said its staff members visited her personally to assure her of CDE’s support and assistance. Counselling sessions were also provided to Ms Sugiyem to help her cope with trauma.

“We also activated our charity fund, the Domestic Employees Welfare Fund to help pay for her medical treatment to provide some respite to the discomfort she had been feeling because of the alleged abuse,” added CDE.

CDE urged members of the public not to speculate and to let investigations run their due course.

Acts of physical abuse against anyone, particularly the vulnerable members of society such as foreign domestic workers should not be condoned, said CDE.

If such workers feel that their personal safety is being threatened, they can call the police at 999 by using a handphone or a public phone.

They can also approach neighbours for assistance or call CDE’s 24-hour helpline 1800 2255 233 (1800 CALL CDE).

Members of the public are also reminded to remain vigilant and help to look out for distressed foreign domestic workers.