AFP - Thursday,
October 22
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – A Malaysian couple have been arrested for
allegedly severely beating their Indonesian maid and leaving her
bound and locked up in a toilet for two nights, police said
Thursday.
Indonesia has put a ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia
while the neighbours attempt to negotiate a deal on salaries and
conditions, aimed at ending a string of appalling abuse cases.
In the latest incident, a market vendor and his wife are accused
of viciously beating their 36-year-old maid Mautik Hani, from
Surabaya in Indonesia, who was found locked up in their house.
District police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said the man, aged in
his 30s, surrendered to police on Wednesday while his 29-year-old
wife was arrested on Tuesday.
Newspaper reports have said that Hani was found, tied up around
her hands and legs, by another Indonesian cleaner hired to replace
her. She had noticed a foul smell coming from a locked
bathroom.
"When she was found, she was in the toilet at the back of the
house. Her left eye was swollen, her right leg had a big wound that
exposed the bone, and she had bruises all over her body," Mohamad
told AFP.
He said she was still being treated in hospital for her
injuries.
The New Straits Times said that Hani had been abused by her
employers almost daily during the two months she worked at their
home.
Malaysia -- one of Asia's largest importers of labour -- depends
heavily on domestic workers, mainly from Indonesia, but has no laws
governing their working conditions.
The government in May announced plans for new laws to protect
domestic workers from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and
poor working conditions.
Currently Indonesian maids typically work seven days a week for
as little as 400 ringgit (113 dollars).