Domestic helper accuses former employer and convicted maid abuser of cruel campaign of injustice
Former civil servant, who threw scalding water over her Bangladeshi helper in 2014, kept a “punishment book” listing fines imposed on replacement maid for mistakes, including failing to marinade a cucumber and using the word “just”
Slumped dejectedly in her wheelchair and wearing a neck brace, former civil servant Au Wai-chun dissolves into tears and complains bitterly about the domestic helpers she says have turned her retirement into a nightmare. “Now I must bear the identity of a criminal until I die,” she says. “If I am unlucky enough to be convicted again, or if I die before the result comes, please promise to write an article that says a greedy maid can kill their ma’am.”
The 65-year-old says she believes her plight is the work of scheming helpers who have falsely accused her of abuse.
“The judges are all on the maids’ side,” Au claims. “I am the victim [of] the judicial system and one tricky maid and one greedy maid. I want to alert other employers. Many people suffer from their maids.”
Begum Raksona was admitted to hospital with first- to second-degree burns, her trial was told. In her sentencing, District Court Judge Pang Chung-ping excoriated Au with the remark, “Not only did you destroy the trust foreign workers have in Hong Kong employers, but also their reputation.”
The former immigration officer defiantly continues to deny assaulting Raksona and has spent more than HK$3 million on legal fees to try to overturn the conviction and contest a compensation claim from her former helper, who was awarded HK$200,000 damages in a civil hearing.
