Maid who shared nude photos of elderly employer jailed

SINGAPORE – A maid tasked to take care of a vulnerable elderly man snapped a picture of herself with him in the nude in the background.

After that, she sent it to her husband via messaging platform WhatsApp.

Hidayah, 40, who goes by one name, also attached a message in Javanese to her spouse, saying: "Salary 8 million (rupiah) (S$700) but my job is hard, bathing the elderly."

The Indonesian woman committed a similar offence four days later, this time sending the picture to a friend.

Hidayah was sentenced to three months' jail on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to one count each of voyeurism and distributing an intimate image of the elderly victim.

The 79-year-old man, who cannot be named due to a gag order, has Parkinson's disease – a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to muscle tremors as well as difficulty with walking and balance.

Due to the condition, he needs help to perform daily activities such as eating and showering.

His son-in-law hired Hidayah through an agency in February 2022, and the younger man also gave her a mobile phone.

Hidayah was bathing the elderly man in a Punggol flat at around 10.30am on April 18, 2022, when she received a call from her husband, asking her what she was doing at the time.

She then took a picture of herself with the elderly man using her mobile phone and sent it to her husband, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Phang.

Four days later, she took a similar photo and sent it to a friend via Facebook Messenger.

On May 6, 2022, the victim's son-in-law took Hidayah back to her agency. Court documents did not disclose why he did so. He also took back the mobile phone.

The next day, the son-in-law looked through the device and saw one of the incriminating pictures.

He also checked the WhatsApp chats, and discovered that she had sent the picture to her husband and her sister-in-law.

The police were alerted on May 8, 2022.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.