Woman jailed for 6 years for abusing domestic helper
Victim, who was forced to live on meagre rations, beaten and kept prisoner says penalty not enough
A woman from Hong Kong was sentenced to six years in jail yesterday for beating and starving her Indonesian maid and keeping her prisoner, as the judge called for action over laws that leave domestic workers exposed to abuse.
But while victim Erwiana Sulistyaningsih said she “appreciated” the judgement, she felt that six years was not long enough. “I’m still not satisfied with six years’ imprisonment because of what she has done to me, and to my fellow domestic workers,” Sulistyaningsih told reporters.
Law Wan-tung — who had faced a maximum sentence of seven years — “showed no compassion” to Sulistyaningsih and other domestic staff, said judge Amanda Woodcock while handing down the sentence.
“It is regrettable that this conduct is not rare and sadly is often dealt with in the criminal courts,” she added.
The judge called for an investigation by Hong Kong and Indonesian authorities into employment agencies that charge domestic workers huge fees that are then deducted from their salaries.
Of Sulistyaningsih’s treatment, she said: “She was given little rest, sleep and nutrition which left her a shadow of her former self.”
Physical abuse
Sulistyaningsih, 24, told a Hong Kong court in December how she lived on meagre rations, slept only four hours a day, and was beaten so badly by her employer Law that she was knocked unconscious. During the sixweek trial, prosecutors said mother-of-two Law, 44, turned household items such as a mop, a ruler and a clothes hanger into “weapons” against her maids.
Law was convicted on 18 of 20 charges against her, including grievous bodily harm, assault, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages.
Woodcock said that domestic staff are made vulnerable by a law which means they must live with their employer — which activists have long campaigned to change. “I hope that the Hong Kong government and Indonesia government will reform the regulations so other victims and cases not yet exposed can appear in the public,” Sulistyaningsih.
The city is home to nearly 300,000 maids, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines.