HK employer of ‘tortured’ Indonesian maid arrested while trying to leave for Thailand

By: Dennis Chong, Agence France-Presse | Grace Li, Reuters January 20, 2014 11:45 PM

Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih lies in a bed whilst being treated at a hospital in Sragen, Indonesia's Central Java province January 17, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

HONG KONG - Police at Hong Kong airport Monday arrested a woman who allegedly tortured two Indonesian domestic helpers, a day after thousands staged a march to call for better migrant worker rights in the city.

The woman, a 44-year-old housewife alleged to have beaten domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and another maid, was arrested at the city's Chek Lap Kok airport as she attempted to board a flight to Thailand.

"At about 4 o'clock today, Hong Kong police arrested a housewife of age 44. She is believed to be (involved) in connection with Erwiana's case and another abuse on an Indonesian domestic helper in Hong Kong," police officer Chan Wai-man told reporters some five hours after police detained the woman surnamed Law.

"She was trying to leave Hong Kong for Thailand," he added.

Sulistyaningsih, 22, was reportedly abused over a period of eight months while employed by the woman. Media reports said she was unable to walk due to her injuries when she flew home from the southern Chinese city this month.

Her ordeal sparked an outcry among domestic helpers and many locals, renewing concerns about the treatment of maids in the city.

The arrest came as six officers from the city's police and labor bureau on Monday travelled to Indonesia to interview and collect evidence from Erwiana, who suffered extensive injuries from head to foot and is recovering at a hospital in Sragen, a city in central Java.

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HK employer of 'tortured' Indonesian maid arrested while trying to leave for Thailand