HONG KONG: An Indonesian woman who was beaten and burned by her former Hong Kong employers was awarded more than $110,000 in damages on Friday.

The abuse meted out to Kartika Puspitasari, 40, made headlines a decade ago and sparked calls for better protections for the army of women who come to the city to cook, clean and care for its children and elderly.

Her employers were convicted and jailed in 2013, with a court hearing that they burned her with an iron, beat her with a bike chain and assaulted her with a paper cutter, leaving her physically scarred and traumatised.Initially unsure who to turn to, Puspitasari endured the abuse for two years, with her mistreatment only coming to light after she sought consular protection. She returned to Indonesia in 2014 without having received any wages.

On Friday, a judge ruled that Puspitasari had been “treated inhumanely” and awarded her $110,650.

At the home she shares with her husband and three children in Padang city on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, Puspitasari broke down in tears as she received the news by video call.

“I had been waiting for 10 years and finally, my prayer was granted,” she said, thanking her lawyers and friends. But Puspitasari, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), added that the money “is not comparable to the physical and mental wounds I am suffering from”.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023