HK woman jailed for abusing maid
Print Edition
A HONG Kong mother of two was yesterday given a six-year prison term for abusing her Indonesian maid in a case that aroused widespread outrage over its brutality.
Law Wan-tung was sentenced after her conviction earlier this month on eight charges of assault, grievous bodily harm and criminal intimidation against 24-year-old Erwiana Sulistyaningsih in a case that highlighted the vulnerability of migrants working as domestic staff in Asia and the Middle East.
Law, 45, had no reaction as the sentence was handed down by District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock, who said “the seriousness of the charges and circumstances of the offenses means a lengthy prison time is appropriate.”
Law was also fined HK$15,000 (US$1,930) for 10 charges of failing to pay wages or grant time off. She had earlier pleaded guilty to one other charge of failing to buy insurance.
Sulistyaningsih’s case came to light when graphic pictures of her injuries started circulating among Indonesians in Hong Kong, showing her face, hands and legs covered with scabs and lacerations, and blackened, peeling skin around her feet.
“I am so happy because finally my employer is in prison although only for six years. But for me, finally justice is delivered,” Sulistyaningsih told reporters through an interpreter.
Sulistyaningsih worked for Law, who has two teenage children, for about eight months starting in June 2013.
About half of Hong Kong’s 330,000 foreign domestic helpers come from Indonesia, almost all of them female and earning a minimum wage of about HK$500 a month.
Court heard that Sulistyaningsih suffered broken teeth, scratches to her body and blows to her head at the hands of Law, who also pushed a metal vacuum cleaner tube into her mouth, causing her lip to bleed.
On one occasion, Law forced Sulistyaningsih to stand naked in the bathroom during winter while she splashed water on her and pointed a fan at her.
Woodcock said Law had a definite “lack of compassion” and her “contempt was reserved for those she saw as beneath her.”
Sulistyaningsih was given little rest or food and at one point was so hungry that she knocked on the next door neighbor’s door at 2am to beg for something to eat.
When her injuries became so severe she was unable to work, Law attempted to send her home to Indonesia with just HK$70.
Law escorted Sulistyaningsih to the airport, put makeup on her injuries, made her wear an adult diaper and threatened to hurt her family, in order to reduce the risk she would get caught.
The case came to light only when a fellow Indonesian at the airport noticed her.
The judge slammed Hong Kong rules requiring maids to live with their employers, which she said contributed to the abuse cases.
She also urged the Hong Kong and Indonesian governments to investigate the practice of employment agencies charging would-be migrant workers high fees for jobs overseas, which often saddles them with big debts they have to work off.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
