IN Singapore, an Indonesian maid was charged in court for mixing disinfectant in a cordial drink and served to three individuals, two of which were children, who had consumed the tainted beverage.
Straits Times reported that the 18-year-old maid, Mila Rindi Antika’s employer, had two grandchildren, 10 and 11, who visited her often and made sure to stock up on the cordial for the two children.
According to the court documents, during the Aug 4 incident, Mila had allegedly mixed the disinfectant liquid into the cordial bottle and then stored the disinfectant bottle in its usual spot, at the far end of a cabinet.
It was believed that no one was around when Mila was mixing the tainted concoction.
“The accused did so in the kitchen cabinet area, where she thought the (closed-circuit television cameras in her employer’s home) would not face.
“The accused... hoped that her employers would consume the tainted (drink),” the Deputy Public Prosecutor told the court.
To make matters worse, Mila knew that her employer’s two children often drank the cordial drink when they dropped by her elderly employer’s house.
Later that day, Mila’s employer had prepared three glasses of cordial drinks for her 32-year-old son and two grandchildren, unaware of its adulterated contents.
Upon drinking the cordial prepared by the elderly woman, her son initially detected a chemical-like taste and so did his 10-year-old child who said the drink “tasted weird” however, the 11-year-old had not experienced the same thing they did.
The 10-year-old grandchild took up the issue to his grandmother who then took a whiff and noticed a strong chemical smell emanating from the drink but assumed that Mila had not washed the cup properly and decided to pour the liquid into a new cup but then Mila’s employer’s sister had another idea.
The employer’s sister opened the cordial bottle and sniffed its contents to find that it also had a chemical smell. Wary of the situation, Mila was confronted by her owner but denied her claims and her employer did not inquire any further.
The trio who drank the contaminated beverage were fortunately unharmed.
The elderly employer decided to keep the cordial bottle in her room as she was already suspicious of Mila already. Two days later, the disinfectant was discovered by the employer and called the police.
Mila could have been sentenced to jail up to a year and fined up to S$5,000 for committing the offence.
During the investigation, Mila alleged that her employer “emotionally abused her” and was not fed properly while working at her residence but it was found that Mila was not underweight after an examination.
Later on, the 18-year-old admitted to committing the offence as she wanted to “avoid working”.
In court, the Deputy Public Prosecutor had urged the court to sentence the young maid to between five and six months’ imprisonment, emphasising that the two young children drank the tainted beverage.
On Nov 9, the court sentenced Mila to four months’ in jail following her pleading guilty to carrying out a reckless act that could have inflicted harm onto others.