SINGAPORE: A woman who pulled off her domestic helper's headscarf while in a lift was handed a four-month jail term and ordered to pay S$5,000 (US$3,900) in compensation on Wednesday (Jun 3).

Hasnah Hashim, 55, also slapped the 32-year-old Indonesian woman on a separate occasion.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty to two out of five counts of causing hurt, with the remaining charges taken into consideration for her sentencing.

Hasnah had been the employer of the victim at the time of the offences in August 2024.

On Aug 23, 2024, Hasnah and the victim left for the market in the morning and returned at about 7.23am.

As the victim reached the ground-floor lobby, she entered the lift and pressed the button to close the doors just as Hasnah was entering.

Hasnah managed to hold the lift doors open and enter, but was incensed by the victim's actions and grabbed her headscarf with both hands, pulling it down forcefully.

"In the process, the accused pulled the victim's hair, causing her to suffer bodily pain, and pulled off the victim's headscarf, causing her humiliation as she wore the headscarf for religious purposes," Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the court.

The incident was recorded and submitted to the court as evidence.

The victim made a police report later that day and was brought for a medical check. She was found to have a 2cm bruise on her upper lip from an earlier incident three days before, in which Hasnah had slapped the victim's face after the helper had accidentally placed a pack of tofu in the freezer.

Hasnah also hit the victim's forehead with her mobile phone, pinched her thigh and pulled and twisted her ears in separate incidents in August 2024. These offences formed the remaining charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Due to the incident, the victim remained unemployed from Aug 23, 2024, to date, the prosecution said.

Mr Koh told the court that no prospective employer had hired her because of her involvement in the case, as her work could have been disrupted if she had been called to testify.

The helper's last-drawn salary was S$882.

Mr Koh urged the court to jail Hasnah for between four and six months and sought a compensation order of S$8,500, comprising S$1,000 for ...