In a bizarre attempt to improve her relationship with her employer, an Indonesian maid has appeared in a Hong Kong court accused of adding menstrual blood to her employer’s food.

Things are not, however, as they seem for Indra Ningsih, aged 26.

Indra mixed menstrual blood into a pot of vegetables as a sort of guaranteed panacea for improving relations between herself and her employer.

It makes a little more sense if one considers that in some southeastern Asian cultures, menstrual blood is thought to have special powers.

Whether true or no, she has been charged with one count of “administering poison destructive or noxious substances with intent to injure” according to the media.

She has not yet entered a plea.

The noxious action was discovered completely by chance. Her female employer whose surname is Mok happened to enter the kitchen to her home and noticed the maid acting rather strangely. She caught her throwing something into the trash bin, which turned out to be a used sanitary napkin.

When she looked into the pot of vegetables, she noticed something “suspicious” floating around mixed with the vegetables and water.

Indra had no excuse except to say that things had been bad between her employer and herself, and she hoped to improve things.

Well, Indra, not likely.