RI maid 'beaten for eating banana'

RI maid 'beaten for eating banana'

MALAYSIA: Police are investigating allegations that a Malaysian woman slashed an Indonesian maid with a knife because she ate fruit at home without her permission, a news report said.

Saeni Salikan from Pandeglang, Banten, claimed her employer's mother scolded her for eating a banana and slashed her in the neck at a home east of Kuala Lumpur on July 31, the Bernama national news agency reported late Friday. She required 12 stitches.

Saeni, 31, said the mother "was very angry and she slashed me in the neck with a knife," Bernama quoted her as saying.

The Indonesian Embassy is providing Saeni with temporary refuge.

Bernama cited Wan Zainudin Mahmud, a senior police official, as saying that police had begun investigations.

More than 160 maid abuse cases have been reported to Malaysian police since 2001, 13 of them in the first three months. -- AP