Woman held for abusing maid

JAKARTA (JP): A resident of Cengkareng, West Jakarta, is in police custody for allegedly beating her housemaid.

City Police spokesman Lt.Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday the woman was detained on Monday for her own safety after angry local residents gathered in the area.

He said the employer admitted to beating the maid after becoming incensed when the woman could not find a plastic bottle cap.

The 20-year-old maid, a native of Pandeglang, West Java, had worked in the house for 20 days.

Another maid reported the alleged beating to the chief of the neighborhood association (RT).

The RT chief summoned the woman and the maid to discuss the incident. In the meantime, news had spread quickly in the neighborhood, and a crowd gathered outside the neighborhood chief's house.

Cengkareng police were notified and took the woman into custody.

The mob, believing the woman was still inside the chief's home, began pelting it with rocks and debris.

They also vandalized a car belonging to the woman. (07)