An Indonesian maid was recently jailed six weeks for stealing 74 items from her employer worth more than $2,000, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Her ruse was discovered when she wanted to send the stolen items to her boyfriend and friend overseas, only to have the parcels rejected by the courier company.

According to a report in Shin Min Daily News on Jan 1, the maid's 60-year-old employer had found the maid missing when he returned home on Dec 18 last year. His wife and son who came home later were also clueless as to where she could have gone.

At about 3pm, the couple's son found out that maid, identified as Siti, had snuck out of the house and was taking a private hire car back to the house. 

Soon after Siti arrived, the employer shared that a man arrived at the door with four large bags of items. He told the employer's son that the maid had gone to a courier company and had left her belongings in the car.

The employer opened the bags only to find that they contained items which belonged to the family. One of the bags also contained a birthday card with a message written in English by Siti.

When questioned, Siti admitted that she had intended to send the pilfered items to her boyfriend in India as well as to a friend in Indonesia. However, as she was unable to fill in the addresses accurately, the courier company refused to accept the packages. The employer subsequently called the police.

The Chinese evening daily reported that, according to investigations, Siti's stealing spree began on Sept 1 last year. Within three months, she had stolen a total of 74 items totalling $2,904. The items included clothes, ties, jackets and pyjamas. She also stole dinnerware, drinks, food items and even dog toys.

A policewoman on the scene who observed that Siti's clothes had an "unusual bulge" conducted a body search of the 25-year-old Indonesian.

Two mobile phones, an empty wallet as well as foreign currency were found hidden in her bra. However, Siti claimed that the money and phones were hers. She admitted that she had taken the foreign currency notes from her employer's bedroom while she was searching for her passport.

In her plea for leniency in court, Siti claimed she "wasn't thinking clearly" and sought her employers' forgiveness, Shin Min Daily News reported.

When contacted by a reporter, the employer shared that his former helper had worked in the family home for about a year.

He expressed that her performance was less than stellar and she would often oversleep, resulting in his wife being unhappy. Despite that, he still chose to give her another chance.

The employer added that Siti had intentionally taken items that were left unopened so that the family wouldn't notice anything missing.

READ ALSO: Maid jailed for stealing valuables worth $10,000 from previous employer after returning to work in Singapore

candicecai@asiaone.com

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