CHINA: Hong Kong mother accused of beating maids with mops and threatening to kill their relatives is released on bail after being formally charged
Record ID:
334687
CHINA: Hong Kong mother accused of beating maids with mops and threatening to kill their relatives is released on bail after being formally charged
- Title: CHINA: Hong Kong mother accused of beating maids with mops and threatening to kill their relatives is released on bail after being formally charged
- Date: 22nd January 2014
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (JANUARY 22, 2014) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF KWUN TONG LAW COURTS BUILDING VARIOUS OF POLICE VAN WITH SUSPECT LAW WAN-TUNG DRIVING INTO BUILDING VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN STANDING ON GUARD AT CAR PARK ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF LAW (LEFT IN SURGICAL FACE MASK), LAW'S HUSBAND (CENTRE WITH FACE COVERED WITH PAPER) AND LAWYER PATRICK WONG (RIGHT) STANDING VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS LAW WALKING LAW, LAW'S HUSBAND AND LAWYER GETTING INTO CAR VARIOUS OF LAW SITTING IN CAR JOURNALISTS SURROUNDING CAR, CAR DRIVING AWAY LAW SITTING IN CAR JOURNALIST STANDING ON TOP OF VAN, CAR DRIVING AWAY
- Embargoed: 6th February 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Hong Kong, China
- City:
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Employment,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAAG2FXPIZTTGCSU8Y5YENVV0S6
- Story Text: A Hong Kong mother of two who a court heard punched her maids, beat them with mops and threatened to kill their relatives was released on bail on Wednesday (January 22) after she was formally charged in a case that has triggered outrage.
Police arrested former beautician Law Wan-tung at the airport on Monday before she boarded a flight to Thailand, since when she has been jeered as a monster on trips between the police station and her home.
Law, 44, dressed in a black jacket, was calm as seven charges were read out - two counts of wounding, one count of common assault and four counts of criminal intimidation.
The judge released Law on bail of HK$1 million (US$ 129,000) despite calls from the prosecutor to keep her in custody given the severity of the suspected abuse over many years, and the risk of her leaving Hong Kong.
The prosecutor described how Law had mistreated several former domestic helpers including 23-year-old Indonesian Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, who is now recovering from injuries in a hospital in Sragen, central Java.
The court also heard how Erwiana and other former domestic helpers had been hit with various objects including clothes hangers and mops. Law threatened to kill their relatives if they disclosed the abuse, the prosecution said.
Doctors treating Erwiana say burns on her body were caused by boiling water.
No plea was entered, but defence lawyer Patrick Wong in mitigation said Law had cooperated fully with police, had no criminal background and that there was no clear evidence of abuse except the claims made by the helpers.
Law left court wearing a black hood, sunglasses and surgical mask, followed by a scrum of reporters.
Hong Kong, a former British territory that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has around 300,000 foreign domestic helpers, most of them from the Philippines and Indonesia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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