Maid who put sleeping pills in breakfast for employer's wife and daughter jailed 8 months
A domestic helper had put sleeping pills into the breakfast that she was preparing for her employer’s wife and daughter as she wanted to avoid a scolding from the two women.
Gurpreet Kaur, a 31-year-old Indian national, was sentenced on Wednesday (4 July) to eight months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to two counts of administering a drug to a person with the intention to cause hurt to them.
At the time of the offences, Kaur was residing at the flat in Buona Vista with her employer, Premnath Shivadial, 74, his wife, Chander Kanta Harbans Lal, 72, and their daughter, Anita Kumari Premnath, 47. They also shared the flat with Kumari’s niece.
Kaur had been employed to do household chores and cook for the family since January last year.
Her employer, Premnath, had been prescribed Risperidone medication to treat his bipolar disorder but was told by his doctor in May 2017 to stop consuming the medication. Following his doctor’s instructions, Premnath threw the medication away.
Risperidone is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The side effects of using the drug include sleepiness, headache, insomnia, and movement problems.
As Kaur was preparing oatmeal for Kanta and Kumari on 30 May last year around 9am, Kumari saw the maid place additional items in a pot in which she was boiling water. Upon seeing the medicine tablets in the pot, Kumari confronted the maid, who said the tablets were oats. Kaur then poured the contents of the pot into the sink and washed the pot.
Kumari told her family members about the incident and her niece made a police report.
When Kumari searched the cabinet where Premnath’s medicine was usually kept, she found a box of Risperidone tablets that her father had supposedly thrown away. She also found tablets in other parts of the kitchen.
Kanta and Kumari recalled that before 30 May, they had felt drowsy and temporarily impaired after consuming breakfast cooked by Kaur over the past few weeks.
Blood samples of both Kanta and Kumari taken after the incident were found to contain a substance from Risperidone.
Confronted with the results, Kaur admitted that she placed the pills into the pot on 30 May because she wanted the two women to “calm down” and “be quiet” so that they would not scold her. She confessed to doing the same on a separate occasion a few days earlier.
She had learnt earlier from Kanta that Premnath’s Risperidone was meant to help him with his sleeping problems.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Esther Wong asked for nine months’ jail for Kaur. Noting that one of the victims was a vulnerable 72-year-old woman, DPP Wong said the victims are entitled to feel safe in their home.
“Kaur exploited the trust reposed in her by virtue of the domestic worker-employer relationship, under which the victim trusted her to prepare food for her,” said DPP Wong.
Kaur’s lawyer Daniel Chen Chonguang, asked for a lighter sentence, given the low degree of harm caused and that Kaur had pleaded guilty early.
During sentencing, District Judge Kessler Soh told Kaur, “What you did was very wrong and could cause serious harm.”
For the specific charge in the case, an offender faces up to 10 years’ jail, and a fine or caning on each count. Kaur cannot be caned because she is a woman.
