SINGAPORE, Sept 26 — A couple who routinely abused their Indonesian domestic helper over one-and-a-half years — by slapping her, pulling her hair and hitting her head with a plastic stool — yesterday had their jail terms extended by the High Court, which granted the prosecution’s appeals against the sentences.

Singtel customer service officer Khairani Abdul Rahman’s jail term was doubled from four to eight weeks. She was convicted of slapping Solichah, 28, twice on March 24, 2013 and twice in August 2011, and swinging a stool at her head twice on Christmas Day in 2012.

Khairani’s husband Rosman Anwar, a senior logistics officer with Certis Cisco, will be jailed six weeks instead of two for slapping Solichah twice and pulling her hair on March 24, 2013.

Deputy public prosecutors Kow Keng Siong and Amanda Chong argued that the original sentences, delivered in May after a seven-day trial, were “manifestly inadequate” and did not meet the needs of retribution and deterrence, which are the key sentencing considerations in maid abuse cases.

The prosecution also said the District Judge had “applied the wrong sentencing principle” by saying that an assault can only be serious if injuries are documented in a medical report, or result in “old scars or other obvious injuries”.

Many instances of assaults, including violent slapping, may not leave behind visible evidence as the signs may have faded, said the prosecution. Even if injury is absent, slapping is an “insidious form of assault that can take away a maid’s dignity and sense of self-worth”, argued the prosecution.

The prosecution also argued that the District Court failed to give weight to the fact that the assaults took place over a prolonged time period. The defendants also abused the victim mentally, calling her an “animal” and asserting they had the “right” to hit her.

“Their criminal conduct attracts public disapprobation and must e deterred lest others believe they may slap their domestic maids with impunity as long as the injuries are minor and remain undocumented,” said the prosecution.

In granting the appeals, Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon said he agreed with the prosecution that the degree of pain and suffering endured by the victim is not to be measured only by the visible injuries and the severity of the assaults on her, but must take into account the prolonged nature of the abuse and the psychological and emotional toll that it took on her.

Noting that the District Judge found victim to be a “truthful and reliable” witness, and was satisfied her emotional suffering was substantial, JC See said the victim was “especially vulnerable in that she was led to believe that she had no choice but to resign herself to the situation she was in”.

He dismissed the defence’s appeal against the couple’s conviction.

Khairani had finished serving the original four-week sentence, and will now serve another four weeks. Rosman will start serving his six-week sentence his wife is released on Octtober 16.

The arrangement was to allow one of them to care for their three school-going sons. — TODAY