A Malaysian family was horrified to discover their maid had spiked their drinking water with soiled diapers and sanitary pads as a magic charm to ensure they were nice to her, reports said today.

The 26-year-old Indonesian maid was caught soaking the items which she retrieved from the rubbish bin and pouring the dirty water into a flask, on a spy camera that the suspicious family set up at their home in Kuala Lumpur.

The maid, who was instantly dismissed after the incident was discovered late last month, claimed she resorted to making the charm because she was fed up with being scolded by her employers, the Chinese press reported.

"We have never tortured her nor treated her badly," the employer, a businessman identified as Lian, told a press conference organised by a Chinese community body which was reported in the media along with grabs from the video recording.

The Lians said they hired the woman in February to take care of their 18-month-old son, and installed spy cameras throughout the house to monitor her actions.