Indonesian Maid cooked soup with soiled sanitary pad

By Karen W Lim

A horrible experience with her sister's maid led to the creation of a Facebook group called "Dangerous Maids", which hopes to warn the public that maids are not always the victims and that employers get abused as well.

The creator, Ms Hylda Low, started the group on Tuesday.

"I want to warn the public that this maid is very dangerous. We cannot let this evil person do this type of black magic to anyone anymore," wrote Ms Low.

The 20-year-old student claimed that the maid, who is from West Java, had cooked soup for her family with her menstrual blood which she collected on a cotton pad and secretly put it into a disposable tea bag.

The family found out about the maid's dirty deed early August and to their horror, was told that it was the third time she tainted their food with her discharge.

Ms Low's sister, who declined to be named, said that the family employed the maid to look after her grandmother.

The maid was transferred over from her sister-in-law's employment and worked for the Low family for five months before she was exposed during a Sunday family gathering.

An uncle discovered a piece of soaked cotton wool cut out from a sanitary pad hidden in the kitchen while he went to get a mop to clean the floor.

He started to suspect something and monitored the maid's behaviour. Moments later, he saw her searching for the piece of bloodied cotton at the same place where he had found it.

He then called for a family meeting, during which they found out what the maid had been up to.

"We confronted her and she intially denied, saying that she had cut her finger and used cotton wool to soak the blood up.

"We asked to see the cut and she wasn't able to show us," said Ms Low's sister.

After much probing, the maid confessed to the deed and said that a bomoh had advised her to do this so that her employers would like her more and listen to her.

During her confession, she told Ms Low's family that she was angry with them for not allowing her to chat on the mobile phone.

Ms Low's sister said that they were initially told of her habit of frequently chatting on the phone, but said they did not prohibit her from using the phone when she had finished her chores.

"We allowed her to go to her room after she was done with work. She would usually go to her room around 8.30pm to 9pm and talk on the phone till midnight," said Ms Low's sister.

Awhile later, they realised that the maid's attitude was slowly changing and she started to neglect her work.

The family then imposed a curfew on her phone usage. She was told that she could not talk on the phone until it was after 6.30pm.

"She started throwing tantrums and banged the door all the time. She wanted to pack up and leave, so we called the police to stop her because if she leaves under our employment, we will get into trouble if anything happens.

"We managed to convince her to stay until we find a replacement," said Ms Low's sister.

After the incident came to light, their uncle called the police but was told that they could not press charges due to lack of evidence.

The maid was immediately sent back to Indonesia.

Invited other people into their home

After she was sent back, Ms Low and her family confiscated the maid's phone and found photos of her posing in the house, while she was supposed to be alone at home with their grandmother.

According to Ms Low's sister, it is not possible that their grandmother had taken the photos and it was obvious that the maid had invited someone else into the house while they were not around.

When asked why Ms Low wanted to set up the 'Dangerous Maids' group, she replied: "Sometimes maids are not the only victims, the employers are also victims.

"The group is purely to share experiences. Although they cannot be verified, users can share their experiences with their maids based on their part of being the employer," said Ms Low.

The group has about 100 members to date.