HONG KONG - Police at Hong Kong airport Monday arrested a woman who allegedly tortured two Indonesian domestic helpers, a day after thousands staged a march to call for better migrant worker rights in the city.
The woman, a 44-year-old housewife alleged to have beaten domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and another maid, was arrested at the city's Chek Lap Kok airport as she attempted to board a flight to Thailand.
"At about 4 o'clock today, Hong Kong police arrested a housewife of age 44. She is believed to be (involved) in connection with Erwiana's case and another abuse on an Indonesian domestic helper in Hong Kong," police officer Chan Wai-man told reporters some five hours after police detained the woman surnamed Law.
"She was trying to leave Hong Kong for Thailand," he added.
Sulistyaningsih, 22, was reportedly abused over a period of eight months while employed by the woman. Media reports said she was unable to walk due to her injuries when she flew home from the southern Chinese city this month.
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| Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih lies in a bed whilst being treated at a hospital in Sragen, Indonesia's Central Java province January 17, 2014. |
Her ordeal sparked an outcry among domestic helpers and many locals, renewing concerns about the treatment of maids in the city.
The arrest came as six officers from the city's police and labor bureau on Monday travelled to Indonesia to interview and collect evidence from Erwiana, who suffered extensive injuries from head to foot and is recovering at a hospital in Sragen, a city in central Java.
They visited Sulistyaningsih in hospital in the evening and said they planned to take a formal statement later.
Indonesian police assisting their Hong Kong counterparts said the statement would be taken early Tuesday.
"All the information will be passed back to Hong Kong," police official Chung Chi-ming told reporters.
"She is also willing to go back to Hong Kong to assist in our investigation after her recovery," he said, adding that police took a "very serious" view of the case.
Erwiana said she would testify in court if needed but would not return for work, local media reported.
Over the weekend a second maid, identified only as Susi, came forward saying she was allegedly brutalized by the same employer. Chan said Monday's arrest was based partly on evidence collected from that helper.
Law was believed to have a connection with the two cases, which would be dealt with as wounding cases, the police said. No formal charges have been laid against her.
Hong Kong, an ex-British territory that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, employs nearly 300,000 domestic helpers, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines. They are excluded from a minimum wage and other basic rights and services.
Ill-treatment of foreign domestic workers in Asian and Gulf regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Dubai has been a longstanding problem.
But the latest abuse case has strained relations between the southern Chinese city and Jakarta.
Reyna Usman, an Indonesian labor ministry official, said that Jakarta may review the placement of maids in Hong Kong if the city does not deal with the case seriously.
"In this particular case, the Indonesian (labor) minister wants a commitment from Hong Kong to take action against the agency and the employer," she said.
"The Indonesian minister will review cooperation on the placement of maids in Hong Kong if this matter is not dealt with seriously."
The financial hub's leader Leung Chun-ying insisted abuse of maids would be dealt with severely.
"Our laws do not allow anyone to impose violence on, or torture anyone's body and mind. Police have arrested the suspect in connection with the case," he said.
"Hong Kong is a society with the rule of law. For any unlawful act, especially those involving inflicting violence on others mentally or physically, we will not put up with it," Chief Executive Leung said earlier on Monday afternoon.
Several thousand domestic helpers and rights activists staged a protest on Sunday, calling for justice for Sulistyaningsih.
In September, a Hong Kong couple were jailed for savagely beating their Indonesian domestic helper over a two-year period, including burning her with an iron and hitting her with a bicycle chain.
Amnesty International in November condemned the "slavery-like" conditions faced by thousands of Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong and accused authorities of "inexcusable" inaction.
It said Indonesians were exploited by recruitment and placement agencies who seize their documents and charge them excessive fees, with false promises of high salaries and good working conditions.
The government stipulates a minimum wage and other conditions for foreign domestic helpers, but unscrupulous employers and agencies sometimes ignore this.
