An Indonesian woman was jailed for six months on Friday after being convicted of evading her role as a domestic carer by leaving a 90-year-old Taiwanese woman with dementia alone at home seven years ago.
Uun Kurniasih was hired by the Kao family at their Taipei home in November 2011 as their domestic carer for the bedridden elderly mother, who was highly dependent because she had severe dementia, the China Times reported.
The Taipei District Court learned that the carer packed her luggage and left her role on the 27th day of employment without any notice, leaving the patient unattended at home alone in the morning.
Fortunately, the elderly woman was uninjured as her son and daughter-in-law paid a visit that afternoon.
The Kao family filed a case against the domestic carer and the Taipei police managed to track down Kurniasih and arrest her last year.
The defendant told the court she ran away because she was bitten and beaten by the elderly woman she was caring for.
Her employment agency testified that the carer had been well-informed and received two months of training with the Kao family prior to her official work. She had been advised that the elderly woman would resist care physically, by biting her teeth during brushing, or pushing the carer while moving her.
Kurniasih was found guilty of breaching her contract by not giving the helpless person support or protection necessary to preserve Kao’s life. This was a violation of Article 294 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code, so she was given a six-month jail term as the patient did not end up being harmed.