Maid repeatedly pinched three-year-old autistic girl to force her to sleep
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
February 12, 2025
A domestic helper repeatedly pinched a three-year-old non-verbal autistic girl under her care while trying to coax the child to sleep, causing bruises to her left thigh.
Widiyanti, 32, who goes by only one name, was sentenced to 23 days' jail on Feb 12 after she pleaded guilty to an assault charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said the child's mother employed the Indonesian woman in September 2024 to take care of the girl who had been found to have autism and global developmental delay.
The mother had also enrolled her daughter at a childcare centre, the court heard.
She then tasked Widiyanti to supervise the child at the centre due to her developmental problems. Details about the centre have been redacted from court documents.
The maid was at the centre at around 1pm on Nov 20, 2024, when she tried to coax the girl to sleep during a scheduled nap time.
DPP Lim said: "Although the accused managed to get the victim to sit (in) her cot, the victim was reluctant to go to sleep.
"The victim repeatedly sat up straight, tossed and turned, and tried to engage with the accused despite her efforts to put the victim to sleep. This continued for about 15 minutes."
Widiyanti then pinched the toddler's left thigh three times in an effort to get her to go to sleep.
The child later became more compliant and nodded off, said the prosecutor.
At around 8pm that day, the mother spotted bruises on her daughter's thigh and confronted Widiyanti, who came clean about what she had done.
The mother alerted the police and officers arrested the maid the next day.
For assaulting the child, Widiyanti could have been jailed for up to six years and fined.
