Note leads to rescue of Indonesian maid locked up on condo balcony in Malaysia
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Police said the maid was allowed inside the apartment only from 5am to 11am to clean it.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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KUALA LUMPUR – A note pleading for help led to the rescue of a 21-year-old Indonesian maid who had been locked up on the balcony of a condominium apartment in the city of Petaling Jaya, in the state of Selangor.
Only given a pillow and a mattress, the victim suffered whenever it rained.
Her anguish ended when a team from Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) division raided the apartment in the Mutiara Damansara area at about 5pm on June 9.
The division’s principal assistant director Soffian Santong said a 69-year-old woman, believed to be the employer, was detained.
“Initial investigation revealed that the victim was given only the balcony to stay at, instead of a room,” Mr Soffian told The Star on June 10.
“She was to remain there, and the door to the balcony was locked from the inside.”
The victim was allowed inside the apartment only between 5am and 11am, when she was instructed to clean the unit, he said.
“She had been working there for only about a week and she had not been paid any salary,” he added.
“Her situation was discovered when she wrote a note pleading for help and tossed it over the balcony.”
The case is classified under Section 12 of the Atipsom Act, which covers exploitation of people, and Section 55B of the Immigration Act, which cover the hiring of non-citizens without a valid work pass. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
