KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia?An Indonesian maid has been sentenced to six years in jail for attempting to murder her elderly Malaysian employer by putting weedkiller in her coffee and soup, reports said Tuesday.

Nurhayati Ahmad, 22, from Lombok in Indonesia pleased guilty to poisoning 77-year-old Jaharah Daud in July last year, state news agency Bernama said.

It said that Jaharah detected a bitter taste in coffee prepared by the maid. The elderly woman's daughter then checked a vegetable soup the maid had cooked and found it had the same strange smell.

Suspecting it had been contaminated with poison, they contacted police who came to the house and found two bottles of herbicide, the Star newspaper said.

Jaharah was taken to hospital where she was treated for poisoning but released after several days.