THE abusive former employer of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was sentenced to six years in prison and fined HK$15,000 at the District Court this morning.
Handing down her sentence to former beautician Law Wan-tung, District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock said that the defendant’s attitude and behaviour were contemptible, and she had shown no compassion to her victims.
Woodcock said that this type of abusive conduct could be prevented if domestic helpers were not forced to live with their employers.
She also urged authorities in Hong Kong and Indonesia to investigate agencies which charged domestic helpers substantially for getting them a job in the city.
Law, 44, was convicted at the same court two weeks ago of 18 of 20 charges, eight of which accused the mother of two of assaulting and criminally intimidating Erwiana and and another Indonesian maid, Tutik Lestari Ningsih.
Law has been remanded in custody since the 16-day trial came to an end.
The guilty verdict came after Woodcock found Erwiana was “too simple” to lie about the abuse she suffered, including the time Law twisted a metal tube from a vacuum cleaner in the maid’s month, causing cuts to her lips. For this particular assault, Law was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, the most serious charge of all.
The judge also found Law had punched Erwiana so hard that her incisor teeth were fractured. On another occasion, Law stripped the maid of her clothes in the bathroom, splashing her with cold water and pointing a blowing fan at her.
For the first time, the court was given a rare glimpse into the life of the defendant today, who previously chose not to come to her own defence in the open court.
Law’s lawyer Graham Harris SC said in mitigation that his client’s acts were not “one of the very worst of its kind”. He said that there was no evidence of permanent physical and psychological injuries.
“Instruments used in the case are not the instruments per se for the infliction of the injuries,” he added.
He submitted to court some case precedents in which hot irons and cutters were used against domestic helpers.
Harris also drew Woodcock’s attention to aspects of Law’s character that were not revealed during the trial. He said that she had contributed to charities “from her own resources” for many years. She made donations totalling HK$70,000 to organisations including Po Leung Kuk and Unicef, he said.
Harris said that Law had been “vilified, demonised and ostracised” since the case came to light. He added that Law was born and raised in Hong Kong, and received education up to Form 3. She was a beautician before getting married and becoming a full-time housewife.
Law stood impassively in the dock when the judge announced her sentence. Her lawyers said outside court that they had not decided whether to launch an appeal.
Speaking outside court, Erwiana said she was not fully satisfied with the length of Law’s “light” jail term but was pleased that she was going to prison.
She said that the six-year sentence suggested the government tolerated slavery and maltreatment of migrant workers.
“It is not OK … violation of our human rights is not OK. Slavery is not OK,” she said.
Erwiana backed Woodcock’s call for the government to scrap laws that domestic workers must live with their employers and the two-week rule, whereby helpers must leave Hong Kong within two weeks of termination of their contracts.
“I hope that the Hong Kong government will treat us domestic workers as workers,” she said. (South China Morning Post – Chris Lau and Thomas Chan)
Link:http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1724621/hong-kong-employer-who-abused-indonesian-maid-erwiana-jailed-six
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