Domestic helper jailed for four months in Hong Kong for lacing water drunk by employer’s son with urine
- The 13-year-old boy was unintended victim after he sipped from flask meant for his mother, the original target of Indonesian helper Komsatun
- Helper pleads guilty to one count of administering poison or other destructive or noxious thing with intent to injure
A domestic helper in Hong Kong was jailed for four months on Monday for lacing a flask of water with urine which her employer’s teenage son then drank.
But the 13-year-old boy was the unintended victim after he sipped from a vacuum flask meant for his mother, the original target of Indonesian helper Komsatun, Eastern Court heard.
“I did not know her son would take the flasks and drink from them. I just intended to play a trick on my employer,” Komsatun, 40, told police during an investigation.
She said her employer, Solange Feng Shoc-hoa, scolded her all the time.
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Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen said the offence was serious because, by committing it, the helper threw away her employer’s trust.
Komsatun pleaded guilty to one count of administering poison or other destructive or noxious thing with intent to injure.
Law said the water was not poisonous but the episode had dealt a blow to the boy mentally.
The incident took place on April 11, a week after Komsatun began working at Feng’s home in Ap Lei Chau, prosecutors said.
The relationship between the employer and Komatsun was strained because Feng claimed the helper’s work was poor.
I did not know her son would take the flasks and drink from them. I just intended to play a trick on my employer
On the afternoon of the incident, Feng’s son drank from water prepared by the helper. After noticing a strange taste, he told his mother, who confronted Komsatun.
The helper admitted adding her urine to the drink and Feng alerted police.
“I know I was wrong. Please give me a chance,” the helper told police after her arrest.
Komsatun said she used the lid of a hand cream container to transfer her urine to flasks that morning. She thought Feng would take the flasks, however, the employer told her son to put them in his schoolbag instead.
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Urine could be considered a noxious substance, the prosecutors said. A government forensic pathologist said urine was generally not sterile. So it was capable of causing infection because of bacteria and fungi it contained.
In mitigation, Komsatun’s lawyer suggested the helper committed the offence out of foolishness and had failed to consider the legal consequences. She pleaded guilty as soon as possible and looked forward to being reunited with her children back home.
The offence carries a maximum jail sentence of three years.
