The wife of a Singaporean police officer admitted that he starved, tortured and ended up killing his maid in Myanmar.
The worker allegedly weighed just 24 kg (53 lb) when she died from injuries in the 2016 incident.
Prosecutors called Gaiyathiri Murugayan’s actions “bad and totally inhuman”.
It is among a series of high-profile domestic abuse cases in the wealthy city-state in recent years.
Human rights groups have raised concerns about how foreign domestic workers, many of whom come from neighboring Asian countries, have been treated.
On Tuesday, Murugayan, 40, pleaded guilty in a Singapore court of 28 charges, including manslaughter against Piang Ngaih Don. If she is convicted, she could be sentenced to life in prison.
‘Playing her like a rag doll’
The court heard that Piang started working for Murugayan in 2015, in his first job abroad.
Murugayan started abusing her in October 2015 after alleging that Piang was “slow, unhygienic and overeat”, according to local media reports citing court proceedings.
CCTV images from cameras installed in the house showed the abuse she suffered in the last month of her life, often being beaten several times a day. Mrs. Murugayan also burned it with a heated iron and was accused of “throwing it like a rag doll”.
The court heard that Ms. Piang’s meals usually consisted of slices of bread soaked in water, cold food from the refrigerator or some rice. She lost 15 kg – about 38% of her body weight – in 14 months.
The 24-year-old assistant died in July 2016 after being repeatedly beaten for several hours by Ms. Murugayan and her mother. An autopsy report later found that Ms. Piang died of oxygen deprivation in her brain after being suffocated repeatedly.
Prosecutors asked for life imprisonment for Murugayan, while defense lawyers called for a reduction in sentence, arguing that she was suffering from depression at the time and had been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Her husband, Officer Kelvin Chelvam, and his mother also face several charges. Local media reports say Chelvam was suspended from the police force in 2016.
On Wednesday, Singapore’s human resources minister, Josephine Teo, said Ms. Piang’s situation had not been noticed, despite several medical visits and checks by her employment agency.
In one case, the doctor saw bruises, but Ms. Murugayan said the victim often fell.
Ms. Teo called the case “terrible” and said that several safeguards to protect foreign domestic workers have been implemented in recent years.
She later told reporters that her ministry is reviewing how doctors report medical examinations, adding that they have a “duty” to inform the police if they detect signs of abuse.
Singapore is home to some 250,000 foreign domestic workers, usually from countries like Indonesia, Myanmar or the Philippines.
Abuse cases are not uncommon. In 2017, a couple was arrested for starving their Philippine maid. In 2019, another couple was arrested for abusing a Myanmar worker.
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In 2017, the BBC spoke to a Filipino domestic worker who said she was abused by a wealthy family in Brazil.