Hong Kong woman jailed for six years for maid abuse

A Hong Kong woman was jailed for six years on Feb. 27 for beating and starving her Indonesian maid and keeping her prisoner, as the judge called for action over laws which leave domestic workers exposed to abuse.
      
But while victim Erwiana Sulistyaningsih said she was happy and "appreciated" the judgement, she felt that six years was not long enough.
      
"I'm still not satisfied with six years' imprisonment, because of what she has done to me, and to my fellow domestic workers," Sulistyaningsih told reporters.
     
Law Wan-tung -- who had faced a maximum sentence of seven years -- "showed no compassion" to Sulistyaningsih and other domestic staff, said judge Amanda Woodcock in handing down the sentence.
      
Law saw them as "people that are beneath her", said Woodcock.
      
"It is regrettable that this conduct is not rare and sadly is often dealt with in the criminal courts," she added.
      
The judge called for an investigation by Hong Kong and Indonesian authorities into employment agencies that charge domestic workers huge fees which are then deducted from their salaries.
      
Of Sulistyaningsih's treatment, she said: "She was given little rest, sleep and nutrition which left her a shadow of her former self."       

Sulistyaningsih, 24, told a Hong Kong court in December how she lived on meagre rations of bread and rice, slept only four hours a day and was beaten so badly by her employer Law that she was knocked unconscious.
      
During the six-week trial, prosecutors said mother-of-two Law, 44, turned household items such as a mop, a ruler and a clothes hanger into "weapons" against her maids.
      
Law was convicted on 18 of 20 charges against her,...