Domestic helper awarded record HK$870,000 in damages for horrific abuse suffered at hands of Hong Kong husband-and-wife employers
- Migrant workers group says city must do more to protect overseas workers and speed up justice system after domestic helper given record damages for abuse
- Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union says cash award does not make up for torture suffered by Kartika Puspitasari
A former domestic helper from overseas was on Friday awarded almost HK$870,000 (US$110,828) in compensation by a court at the end of a 10-year battle for justice after she was beaten with bicycle chains and burned with a hot iron by her brutal husband-and-wife employers.
The HK$868,607 in damages given to Kartika Puspitasari by the District Court was the biggest settlement for abuse of foreign domestic workers so far.
But a group dedicated to the protection of foreign workers in Hong Kong said after the judgment was announced that the city had to do more to safeguard them and speed up the administration of justice.
“We are very worried our migrant workers will be so afraid to file a case because it takes too long and yet it doesn’t mean that we’ll get any compensation,” Eni Lestari, the chairwoman of the International Migrants Alliance, said.
“And then more employers will take this kind of advantage to abuse more domestic workers because they know fighting for justice is very difficult in Hong Kong.”
