We trust our maids with everything precious to us — our kids, our homes, our loved ones. We rarely think about the fact that when we bring them into our homes, they are complete strangers. Also, we don’t think of the worst-case scenario: that they could actually hurt us… or kill us… like in the case of a maid sentenced to death recently.
Maid sentenced to death after court uncovers horrifying details
The maid’s death sentence reportedly came seven months after Mo Huanjing, a local nanny, was found guilty of arson that killed a woman and her three kids last June in China.
The case is making headlines because of the peculiar nature of the fire and the delayed response of authorities.
The court noted that Huanjing, 35, had a huge amount of gambling debt. She often took money from her employers — a family of five.
But this time, she went a little too far in fooling them into paying for more.
The court revealed that Huanjing allegedly set the house on fire and wanted to douse it to proclaim herself as the hero. She thought this would earn her some goodwill and eventually some extra money from the family to pay her gambling debts.
However, her plans went awry when the fire started to rage out of her control instead.
Maid sentenced to death by a Chinese court after finding her guilty of setting her employer’s house on fire | Image source: Stock image
This led to the tragic death of Zhu Xiaozhen, 34, and her three young kids. Her husband, 37-year-old Lin Shengbin, was not at home at the time of the arson.
Lin Shengbin’s fight for justice
Looking at the slow response of the authorities, Shengbin started a Weibo account. The hashtag “Wife and kids in heaven June 22” garnered a lot of attention and almost 2.3 million Weibo followers.
“The devil has finally received the punishment of the law, the death penalty,” Shengbin wrote in a post (on Feb 9), soon after the court decision. “I have suffered day and night for the past 200 days, and today finally received the verdict,” he added.
Shengbin had earlier blamed the builders of the apartment for poor fire-safety plans. But they vehemently denied any neglect on their part. The widower also blamed the fire authorities for their late response. But they also passed the blame, citing low water pressure and lack of safety measures in the building as the cause.
However, with the maid sentenced to death, it is clear that she was the actual culprit. The case once again brings the discussion of spotting red flags in maids back onto the table.
Keep your eyes peeled for some subtle and not-so-subtle signs about your maid’s unhappiness. | Image: Stock image
3 ways to spot red flags in maids
In the case of this unfortunate family, a clear red flag that singalled things with their maid were not quite right was the fact that she kept asking them for money. But there are other things you can look out for that indicate your maid is not right for your family.
1. She snaps at your kids
We often hear horror stories about babies and toddlers being at the receiving end of a helper’s frustrations.
If you suspect your maid of maltreating your child, look out for subtle and not-so-subtle signs of this behaviour in your little one. Check if you child is anxious when left alone with the maid, or has more obvious signs such as bruises or bumps.
If you do catch your maid venting her stress on your children, then show her the door as soon as possible.
2. She’s a slacker
Stress and anxiety can make even the best workers antsy and forgetful. One of the ways your maid may express her stress is by slacking in her daily duties.
She may do this intentionally to try and get her message across to you, or unintentionally as her anxious thoughts overrule her daily routine. So if you spot her slacking in her work, speak to her directly and address the issue that may be making her cranky.
3. She complains about bad health
As mentioned in the linked article, if even after multiple visits to the doctor and several rounds of medication, your maid still complains about her health, it could be a roundabout way of saying she has other issues, or that she wants to leave.
Sometimes you may even suspect that the maid is stealing from you. In such cases you can install CCTV cameras and then speak to the maid with proof, or directly confront her and speak to the agency.
Either way, it’s best to pick up on subtle and not-so-subtle signs of your maid’s unhappiness so that you can nip these in the bud, preventing disasters such as this.
Source: Strait Times
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