KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - – A Malaysian couple have been arrested for allegedly severely beating their Indonesian maid and leaving her bound and locked up in a toilet for two nights, police said Thursday.
Indonesia has put a ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia while the neighbours attempt to negotiate a deal on salaries and conditions, aimed at ending a string of appalling abuse cases.
In the latest incident, a market vendor and his wife are accused of viciously beating their 36-year-old maid Mautik Hani, from Surabaya in Indonesia, who was found locked up in their house.
District police chief Mohamad Mat Yusop said the man, aged in his 30s, surrendered to police on Wednesday while his 29-year-old wife was arrested on Tuesday.
Newspaper reports have said that Hani was found, tied up around her hands and legs, by another Indonesian cleaner hired to replace her. She had noticed a foul smell coming from a locked bathroom.
"When she was found, she was in the toilet at the back of the house. Her left eye was swollen, her right leg had a big wound that exposed the bone, and she had bruises all over her body," Mohamad told AFP.
He said she was still being treated in hospital for her injuries.
The New Straits Times said that Hani had been abused by her employers almost daily during the two months she worked at their home.
Malaysia -- one of Asia's largest importers of labour -- depends heavily on domestic workers, mainly from Indonesia, but has no laws governing their working conditions.
The government in May announced plans for new laws to protect domestic workers from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor working conditions.
Currently Indonesian maids typically work seven days a week for as little as 400 ringgit (113 dollars).