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1/ THREAD: THE CASE OF ADELINA LISAO.
In 2018, Indonesian domestic worker Adelina Lisao died from multiple organ failure shortly after rescue from her employer's home in Penang.
3 days ago, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision to acquit her employer Ambika MA Shan
In 2018, Indonesian domestic worker Adelina Lisao died from multiple organ failure shortly after rescue from her employer's home in Penang.
3 days ago, the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision to acquit her employer Ambika MA Shan
2/ Adelina Lisao was from Kupang, in East Nusa Tenggara – the third poorest province in Indonesia. In 2015, she was employed by Ambika MA Shan in 2015 and worked for Ambika and her family in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
3/ According to a report by the Jakarta Post, Adelina’s family claimed that she had not been paid her salary since beginning her employment. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/02/17/adelinas-family-demands-compensation.html
4/ Adelina was allegedly tortured and forced to sleep outside with a dog. When she was found, there were burn marks on her body, bruises on her head and face, and infected wounds on her hands and legs.
5/ Neighbours who reported the case to the police say that Adelina was screamed at all day long. Even after midnight, neighbours from three or four houses away could hear the screams. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/02/14/attempts-to-help-maid-failed-neighbour-adelina-would-shake-her-head-and-just-walk-away/
6/ After her rescue, Adelina succumbed to multiple organ failure due to anemia. “My child died not because she was sick, but because she was tortured. She slept with a dog, ate with a dog,” said Adelina’s mother in a video.
7/ In February, 3 members of the employer’s household were detained. On February 21, prosecutors charged Ambika MA Shan with murder, while her daughter was charged with hiring a foreigner without valid documents.
8/ In April 2019, the High Court in Penang dropped the murder charge against her. The court granted a full acquittal. Malaysiakini reported that a source said the prosecution made the decision without consulting then-AG Tommy Thomas. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/479667
9/ FMT also reported that that the DPP did not offer valid grounds for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/06/21/woman-charged-with-murdering-maid-freed-due-to-failing-health-judge-says/
10/ "This was one of the most public and harrowing abuse cases ever recorded and yet the attorney-general's chambers somehow saw fit to drop the charge," said human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen.
11/ The Attorney-General’s Chambers later appealed the court decision. Still the Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal after finding that there was “no appealable error” in the High Court’s decision.
12/ This is not the first case of this nature. Msian households employ more than 200,000 Indonesian maids. 2008: a Msian was sentenced to jail for scalding a domestic worker with a hot iron. 2014: a Msian couple were convicted of starving an Indonesian domestic worker to death.
13/ Before Adelina, there was Isti Komariyah, before her Mey Sichan, before her Mautik Hani, and more names than we can state. Domestic workers are systematically subject to abuse at the hands of the families their work for, with little to no legal mechanism for protection.
14/ AI Malaysia strongly urges the government to address the gaps in policies and practices that facilitate continued discrimination against domestic workers, including amending the Employment Act to protect domestic workers, and complying with international labour standards.
15/ There is a larger culture of violence towards domestic workers that exists in our behaviour, speech, thinking. We must re-examine the other types of harm, aggression, and abuse of DW in our daily lives. It is a failure of our society, of our system, and one we cannot accept.
