Maid filed false rape report against employer after knowing plan to terminate her work permit
SINGAPORE — After she was told that her work permit was to be terminated due to poor performance, a domestic helper filed a police report claiming that her employer had raped her.
But Lamneithiem, an Indian national, had had consensual sex with her married employer.
The 28-year-old was jailed for three weeks on Tuesday (15 October) for providing false information to the police. Another count of a similar nature was taken into consideration for her sentencing.
On 21 April this year, Lamneithiem, who goes by one name, reported to the police that her 48-year-old employer had raped her. Her report prompted police investigations.
During her interview later that day, Lamneithiem revealed that she had consensual sex with her employer and that she only lodged the police report after she discovered about her impending work permit cancellation.
Three days later, Lamneithiem reverted to her original rape claim in a further statement. She alleged that her employer had entered the children’s room, where she was sleeping, to check on his children. He entered again and asked the maid to enter his room.
While in his room, the man told Lamneithiem he was lonely and pushed her onto the bed, according to the maid. He then tried to lift up her shirt but she stopped him. After a while, he then put his leg between her thighs and undressed her. He raped her and later told her to wash up, she claimed.
Due to her contradictory accounts, the police interviewed Lamneithiem again on 24 April, when she repeated her rape claim. She said that she struggled and was unable to push the man away.
A police officer contacted the man and recorded a statement from him on 25 April. The mobile phones belonging to him and his wife were seized for investigations. The police ordered the man to surrender his passport.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Navin Naidu, who was seeking three weeks’ jail for the maid, told the court that the man went through further investigations lasting about three hours due to Lamneithiem’s allegations.
When confronted with the evidence on 31 May, Lamneithiem admitted that the sexual intercourse between her employer and herself was consensual, and that she had lied to the police.
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