SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman who abused her Myanmar maid by forcing her to pour hot water on herself, pulling her hair out and hitting her was jailed for three years on Monday (Feb 11).

Linda Seah, 39, who work as a Beauty parlour manager was convicted last month for the abuse inflicted on Phyu Phyu Mar in 2016.

The mistreatment detailed in six charges included two instances when the maid was forced to pour hot water onto her left shoulder, leaving her with burn marks and blisters.

Seah also forced her to drink "water adulterated with floor cleaner", according to the charges.

On one occasion she shook the maid by the hair until some of it came out, and on another, hit her repeatedly on the head with a mobile phone.

The court heard that Seah was not happy as she felt the maid was slow in completing her chores.

But handing down the jail sentence, District Judge Olivia Low said that Seah's "unhappiness with the victim's work should not justify any form of violence against" her.

She said the victim suffered "psychological harm" and had been left with a scar on her shoulder.

As well as the jail term, Seah was fined S$9,000.

The judge said aggravating factors for the sentence included that the maid was not given enough food, leading her to become malnourished, and she was unpaid too for along time.The woman's husband Lim Toon Leng, 44, was jailed for six weeks on one charge of punching the maid on the forehead. The abuses came to light after the maid accompanied Seah to the salon she managed, where one of the employees alerted the police.