Man discovered under maid’s bed!
A 78-year-old female employer of a maid from Myanmar, got the shock of her life when she discovered a man hiding under her maid’s bed.
Her dog had woken her up at midnight and led her to the maid’s room. She opened the door and was startled to find a man hiding under her maid’s bed and her maid not in the room.
She quickly called her son-in-law for assistance as she had been home alone with her 86-year-old bedridden husband. Her daughter and son-in-law rushed over. Finding the man under the bed, the son-in-law kept the man in the room and called the police.
The man struggled to get out of the room and the son-in-law had to use his weight to keep the door of the maid’s room shut. He heard the man inside make a call on his mobile phone, possibly for assistance from his friends. In the meantime, his father-in-law, who had already suffered from two strokes, went into shock. Thankfully his wife, a doctor, was able to stabilise him.
When the police arrived, they got the man out of the room and he knelt on the living room floor crying and saying he was sorry. The police questioned him and then let him go as no offence had been committed.
It turned out that the maid from Myanmar who had been with the family for six weeks had invited the man into the house.The maid denied knowing the man who is thought to be working near Bukit Timah. However, the police determined that the man had been invited into the house and had not broken in.
The family have employed maids for over 20 years and have never experienced anything like this before. They have sent the maid back to the agency. As his father-in-law is bedridden and his elderly mother-in-law is unable to care for him alone, they will be hiring another maid soon. However, not before installing further security in the house.
What should you do if you have a new maid to prevent such an occurrence?
1. Make sure you are the one locking up your house at night. Your maid should be able to leave the house in an emergency but she doesn’t need to have full access to your security system.
2. If your new helper has suspicious phone calls from men or there are signs like cigarette smoke around the house during the day, be vigilant. The maid might be allowing someone to visit her at your house.
3. If you have a new maid, don’t leave her alone with vulnerable members of your family such as young children or elderly parents. Supervise her until you are sure that she understands the rules of your house.
4. Make sure that you vary your routine. Occasionally, go home at an unusual time or have a friend that the maid knows, visit in the middle of the day. This will ensure that your maid is never too confident of having the house to herself at particular times of the day.
5. Do not leave your maid alone at home when you go on holiday if possible. Have a friend or family member house-sit for you.
As your maid is a resident at your house, if she invites someone in, even if they are a stranger to you, there is no offence. It is only if they steal from you, that the police can act. If they just enter the house, there is nothing the police can do.