WHENEVER her mother left her at home alone with the maid, 4-year-old Celest's heart would beat with fear.

That's because the little girl could very well end up being locked up in her own room.

Unknown to Celest's mother, the 22-year-old Indonesian maid had been secretly inviting a Bangladeshi worker to the family's Jurong flat.

And whenever the maid and the man wanted to get intimate, she would lock Celest up.

Once, while the girl was watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on TV, the man grabbed her from behind, dragged her to her room, and pushed her roughly to the bed. As a result, the girl knocked her head against the side of the bed.

Soon after, the maid locked the door from outside.

Celest cried and banged on the door, begging to be let out of her room.

She recalled: 'I cried, but they would not open the door for me.'

After a while, she fell asleep. When the maid woke her up later, she warned the girl: 'Don't tell mummy or I will slap you.'

This incident happened a year ago.

But Celest's mother discovered this only last week when she received a phone call from the maid's boyfriend who told her everything.

The man was upset because the maid dumped him for another man, after they had been together for three years.

The man said he even had photographs taken at the family's flat to prove that he was telling the truth.

Celest's mother, who wants to be known only as Mrs Chow, was so shocked by the news that she later lodged a police report.

In an interview with The New Paper on Sunday, Mrs Chow, 31, a property agent, said that when she first received a call on her handphone from a man claiming to be her maid's boyfriend, she thought the caller had dialled a wrong number and hung up on him.

'But he continued calling. And with each call, he revealed details about my family, like where I live, what time my daughter goes to school every day, and how long my maid has been with us.'

'He even knew that I was separated from my husband and was living with my aunt in her flat.'

When she heard that, Mrs Chow said she was so stunned that she did not know what to say to the unidentified man who had called her.

'He also said that he had watched all my VCDs and stayed in my aunt's house when we were away on holiday in May this year,' said Mrs Chow.

'I was very angry and listened in disbelief.'

The man later told her he was upset with the maid because she had borrowed money from him and that she had recently dumped him for another man.

He later said he had pictures to prove his account and offered to sell them for $200, Mrs Chow said.

She then agreed to meet the caller to view those photographs.

At around 7.30pm on the same day, she received another call from him.

He told her that he has dropped the photographs into her letterbox. However, he changed his mind about getting any money.

'He told me that he does not want to get into any trouble,' said Mrs Chow, who was out on a job then.

When she returned to her aunt's flat an hour later, she found a red plastic bag containing six photographs inside the letterbox.

'I was shocked when I saw that those photos were taken inside my study room. From the arrangement of my furniture, I could tell that the pictures were taken early last year,' said Mrs Chow.

The six photographs showed the maid posing intimately with a bare-chested man on Mrs Chow's sofa bed.

The man could not be identified because his face had been scratched out from the photographs.

When Mrs Chow spoke to her aunt later, she said she had also received a call from a man asking for the maid, saying that the maid owed him money.

That night, Mrs Chow confronted the maid.

She initially denied knowing the caller, but later confessed to having had a relationship with the caller.

She said that he worked as a construction worker and lived in Chua Chu Kang. But she still denied allowing the man into their flat.

That night, Mrs Chow did not tell anyone about the photographs, except her husband, who is living in their matrimonial home in Serangoon.

She and her husband have been separated for about two years, and it was only recently that they decided to salvage their marriage.

Celest continues to live with Mrs Chow's aunt in Jurong, while Mrs Chow shuttles between Jurong and Serangoon.

Mrs Chow said: 'I didn't even tell my aunt about the photographs as I was afraid that she would confront the maid and the maid might cause harm to my family.

'I only told my aunt later, after my husband and I decided to send the maid back to the agency.'

Four days later, she told the maid of her decision.

'I asked her one last time if she had let any man into my aunt's flat. Her answer was the same. She insisted that she had never done such a thing. So I told her I was sending her back to the agency because she wasn't honest with me.'

Mrs Chow then watched the maid pack her bags.

'She was very calm. She did not cry or beg me to let her stay on,' said Mrs Chow.

'I felt cheated by someone I've trusted. She has been working for us since December 2004 and I've recently renewed her contract with us.

'We've treated her well. I bought her pimple cream when I saw that her complexion was getting bad. Whenever she wanted a day off, I let her go without deducting her salary.'

Her husband, Mr Chow, 35, who is also a property agent, said: 'After my wife received the photos, she did not dare to leave our daughter alone with the maid.

'She had to stop working and look after Celest herself.'

It was only at the maid agency that Celest, now 5, told her parents how the maid had treated her.

When asked how many times the maid's boyfriend had gone to her home, Celest replied: 'Ten times. He always come my house and hug and kiss my maid. Once he pushed me so hard that my head knocked onto the bed.'

Celest added that she had also seen the man hugging and kissing the maid at the playground whenever they took her there after school.

Mr Chow said: 'It was only when my daughter saw the photos at the maid agency that she told us how she had been treated. I was shocked when she said she was pushed into her bedroom and locked inside there for hours. It must have been traumatic for her. She was only 4 when it happened!'

The maid is currently staying at a boarding house arranged by her agent.

She will return to Indonesia when her employer and the police give the green light for her to do so, said her agent, 42, who wanted to be known only as Madam Soo.

'It's beyond my control who the maid takes home,' said Madam Soo. 'When these maids first arrived in Singapore, we always tell them to work hard and not to find boyfriends here.

'What happened to Mr Chow's family is unfortunate, and it is an isolated case.'

Madam Soo's agency, which has two branches, has been in business for four years. She asked that we not publish her company's name.

'The police and I have questioned the maid. She admitted to inviting her boyfriend to her employer's flat. But she kept crying and regrets what she had done,' said Madam Soo.

'She told me that she met the men involved with her while she was out shopping. This maid has been working for Mrs Chow for close to two years. Mrs Chow was happy with her work and even sent me a thank-you card.'

Madam Soo said that even though she is 'not contractually bound to replace the maid', she has offered to get a replacement for Mrs Chow for free. 'But she has declined my offer,' said Madam Soo.

Now, even though the maid is gone, the family still fears that her ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend would continue to look her up.

Mrs Chow said: 'My daughter remembers seeing the maid's boyfriend taking the same bus as us and following us to my mother's house.

'I was told by the ex-boyfriend that the new boyfriend lives nearby. I am afraid that this new guy would harm us if he finds out that I've sent her away.'

Mr Chow said that he is trying to persuade his wife's aunt to sell her flat but her aunt is hesitant about doing so.

He said: 'My wife's aunt is a very quiet woman who keeps a low profile. But I feel that it's unsafe (for her) to continue living there.'


Brazen act: These photos were mailed to Mrs Chow. they show an unidentified man behaving intimately with her former maid in her home.