Maid Accused Of Mixing Her Menstrual Blood, Urine In Employer’s Food Stands Trial

A maid in Singapore who has been accused of mixing her menstrual blood and urine in her employer's food began standing trial in court Monday.

Rowena Ola Canares, a 44-year-old domestic worker from the Philippines, is contesting one charge of committing mischief for the alleged offenses that she committed in 2019 while working for a family living in Sengkang, in the North-East region of Singapore, Malaymail reported.

Canares began working for the employer's family in May 2017. She cooked most of the family's meals and took care of the employer's two children, wife, and mother-in-law. Her contract was renewed two years later for another two years.

The employers, whose identity cannot be revealed due to a gag order, came to know about the alleged offenses after Canares’ ex-boyfriend sent them text messages over WhatsApp.

Canares' ex-boyfriend who died last April sent messages to the employer on Dec. 15, 2019. “He sent a message (to both me and my wife) saying she had put menstrual blood and urine in the family’s food. I was shocked,” the employer told the court, Today Online reported. The court was also shown screenshots of the messages they received.

The employer also argued in court that Canares had admitted to the crimes during the investigation.

“At one point, when the officers investigated, I heard that she had done it, mixed those two things in my food. She said, ‘Sorry sir, sorry ma’am’, many times. Of course, we did not accept her apologies,” the employer testified in court.

However, Canares' lawyer claimed in court Monday that Canares had lied to the ex-boyfriend about the acts and had not in fact committed the offenses. The lawyer also argued that Canares did not deny the offenses during the investigation as she was afraid of the employer.

Canares had claimed that her ex-boyfriend advised her to do the acts when she told him she was unhappy with the family. However, the man denied the claims during a police interview, an investigator testified in court.

If convicted on the charges, Canares could be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.