the enemy we welcomed into our home

my aunt, who is of a significant age, suffering for diabetes and other age related ailments was taken care of by a wonderful woman named Mira. She hailed from indonesia and was recruited as a domestic helper to care for my aunt and the rest of the family members who were living with her.

Mira's chores or duties were to mainly take care of my sick aunt. Mira was to bathe her, feed her her daily meals, tend to her needs and ensure that she takes her medicine as instructed by the doctors. My aunts mind has dwindled for the past few years and communication is scarce.

Mira was like god sent. She was this small, peite lady, always ready and willing to help out and take care of the family. She was quick with her work, nimble, always on her toes and is always seen doing her chores dilligently. She showed much love, care and concern for my ailing aunt as well.

She has been with the family for a good 1 year plus, her contract was supposed to end sometime at the end of this year and i believe, my family members were more than willing to extend that contract based on her loyalty and dedication to the family. This wonderful sweet lady however, wasnt whom she portrayed herself to really be.

Here's a list of things she did:

1. Since she was reliable and trusted, she was given the IDD number to make calls from the land line at home. She forked more than $2000 worth of telephone bills in a mere 2 months. When approached, she vehemently denied it, although having being shown the bills with indonesian numbers listed.

2. My ailing aunt kept much of the money given to her by relatives in her room. When we checked, the amount dwindled drastically although my ailing aunt NEVER ever handled cash or went out by herself to purchase stuff. Again she denied taking the money.

3. My other aunt, a frequent business traveller, had several hundred pounds taken from her wardrobe, thousands of japanese yen removed from her drawers and a piggy bank filled to the brim with coins left with only the coins covering the base of the piggy bank and also whatever loose change she had lying in her room, mysteriously vanishing. Again Mira denied being involved.

4. After the missing notes episode, my aunt got a safe and locked her door at all times. But Mira was adamant in searching for more money. My aunt came back to find her bedroom door pried and forced open. The hinges were damaged and once again Mira acted innocent.

5. We were shocked last year when we visited our aunt and was greeted by a face full of bruises. She had blot shot eyes, half of her face was badly swollen and her cheeks were puffy. Mira, who was supposed to spend most of her times being by my aunts side, apparently had no idea what happened to my sick aunt. She thought perhaps my aunt might have fallen.

6. Mira too had a fantastic time spitting into the food right in front of my aunt and forcing her to eat the food which had been spat at. 

7. Blood stains were found on my aunts pillows and further checks showed that she had deep cuts on her head. Guess what?! Mira had a fantastic time in the bathroom, using the shower head to repeatedly knock my aunt's head till it bled.

8. And wanting to save costs for the family, she bathed my aunt too occasionally using dirty water that was used to soak clothes overnight. The water of course would have contained clorox bleach and detergent.

9. Each time a family member came to visit, my aunt would sit with them and gobble down the food which was meant for visitors. Once, 6 curry puffs were served (by the wonderful and attentive Mira of course) to my dad and myself. Dad ate one, and my aunt ate the other 5 under 5 minutes. all these while we thought perhaps she should have been served enough good food everyday since my other relatives provided only the best food for her, but oh, since all are werking Mira was incharge of preparing and feeding her. My aunt lost a lot of weight in the past few months and suddenly it dawned on us. Mira perhaps wasnt feeding my aunt at all or feeding her very little during the day.

10. At times when we visited, my ailing aunt would be a little drowsy, a little "stoned" - and guess what? When checked, we realised Mira, highly possible, could have overdosed my aunt so that she can take her little trips to the mall to get the money she stole changed and TT it back to her home in Indonesia.

11. Last week , my aunt suffered from a dislocated shoulder. Doctors said that it is higly possible that she might have been pushed or shoved to have injured herself extensively.

Mira wasnt spared. She was sent back home.

What i think i want to get across is to always have a little caution when you hire these domestic helpers. You cant trust them 100% no matter how loyal and trustworthy they might seem. Mira was like an angel to all our family members. No one even had the faintest idea that she was capable of doing what she did. And whats worse, she dint apologise and wasnt remorseful for what she did. Not a shed of tear - perhaps because of the "fortune" waiting for her back home - money which belonged rightfully to my family.

To those who have no choice, but to leave the care of their children and elderly in the hands of the maids, try installing the CCTV if you can afford it. It could save a life and definitely ensure the safety of your loved ones. 

Sometimes, you wonder if the occurences of maid abuse came about out of nothing - or was it something they did to spark off the fury. Now, maid abuse is in the news. People caught for abusing their maids either verbally or physically. Lots of employer abuse i suppose goes unnoticed.