A Hong Kong ex-civil servant has been convicted of scalding her Bangladeshi employee with boiling hot water, months after Human Rights groups collected over 100,000 signatures to highlight the plight of domestic workers there.
Former civil servant Au Wai-chun, 61, was convicted by a Hong Kong court of pouring hot water down her maid’s shirt, causing first and second degree burns on her chest.
“The victim, Begum Raksona, is now under Technic Employment Service Centre Ltd in Hong Kong,” Bangladesh Consul General in Hong Kong Mohammad Sarwar Mahmood told the Dhaka Tribune over the telephone yesterday.
In such cases, the recruiting agency is required to take care of the victim until the case is settled, the consul general said.
“We are monitoring the matter, and hope the verdict will go in favour of the victim, and she is justly compensated,” Mahmood said.
Human rights groups collected 103,307 signatures from more than 160 countries calling on the Hong Kong government to take immediate steps to stop the abuse of foreign domestic workers, Hong Kong media reported in April this year.
Au plead not guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but was convicted of the lesser charge of occasioning actual bodily harm. The judge determined that the prosecution had failed to prove there was intent, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on September 2.
Begum Raksona suffered first and second degree burns on her chest. Au is expected to be sentenced on September 22.
The court earlier heard that Au asked Raksona for a cup of hot water at Au’s home at Bauhinia Garden in Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong on September 30, 2013.
Au complained that it was not hot enough, and after a row she poured the water down Raksona’s shirt.
There have been earlier allegations that Bangladeshi housemaids in Hong Kong had been tortured in various ways, including being threatened with job termination.
A number of Bangladeshi housemaids have returned from Hong Kong after losing their jobs and complained to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).
They demanded compensation, and sought to be exempted from the repayment of their bank loans. A senior official at BMET said they were not being pressured to repay the loans, but the loans had not been written-off.
“Sometimes we receive calls from housemaids who complain of torture and food problems, and some of them flee in search of better opportunities,” the official said seeking anonymity.
Joint secretary of the expatriates’ welfare ministry, Nurul Islam, said some of the allegations were true.
“We held a meeting with recruiting agencies to determine how female migrants’ difficulties could be minimized,” the officials said, adding: “We are yet to revise the agreement between BMET and Hong Kong recruiters to accommodate the specific concerns raised about employment conditions in Hong Kong.”
Sources said around 500 female migrants are in Hong Kong working as housemaids.
Abdul Alim, a private recruiter, has sent 200 female migrants to the former British colony.
While talking to this correspondent, he admitted that it was true that workers were facing problems of different food habits, employers’ attitudes, and, sometimes, abuse.
“Hong Kong is a new market and we have to strengthen our training,” Abdul Halim, the owner of SA Trading, said.