Indonesian maid burnt in worst abuse case in Malaysia: report
Indonesian maid burnt in worst abuse case in Malaysia: report
Agence France-Presse Kuala Lumpur
A 19-year-old Indonesian maid was repeatedly burnt with an iron and scalded with boiling water by a wealthy Malaysian housewife in the worst case of abuse ever seen in the country, reports said on Thursday.
All the major newspapers carried front page pictures showing shocking pictures of Nirmala Bonet's beaten face and horrifically scarred back and chest after she was rescued by police from five months of beatings.
The Indonesian embassy is providing shelter for the teenager from Kupang, Nusa Tenggara East, and police have detained the 35- year-old wife of a managing director to assist investigations, the papers said.
Nirmala's plight was exposed after a guard at the upscale condominium where she worked saw her crying on Monday and noticed that she had ugly bruises all over her swollen face and was bleeding from the head and mouth.
Police were called and Nirmala said her employer's wife had abused her daily for the last five months, burning her with a hot iron, pouring boiling water on her and beating her.
Describing her ordeal to local reporters, she said it all began after she broke a mug while washing it.
"She then threw boiling water on me. One day she got upset while I was ironing. She said the clothes had not been properly ironed and slapped me," the maid said.
"She took the iron out of my hand and pressed it against my breasts.
"When I go back, what am I going to tell my parents when they see all the scars,?".
Budhi Rahardjo, the Indonesian embassy's information chief and Jeffrey Foo, Foreign Workers Agencies Association vice-president, both said this was the worst case of maid abuse they had ever seen.
In 2001, reports of several attacks by Malaysians on Indonesian maids sparked angry demonstration in neighboring Indonesia.
Malaysia is due to sign a memorandum of understanding to oversee the training, recruitment and employment of domestic maids from Indonesia by the end of the year, the Star said on Thursday.
There are about 100,000 Indonesian maids in Malaysia, seeking to escape poverty and unemployment in their own country.
They receive a mere US$100 a month and many are forced to work from sunrise to sunset with little protection from labor laws.