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West Sumatra domestic worker wins compensation for abuse in Hong Kong
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.
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Kartika Puspitasari shows a photograph of herself with a scar on her arm from an injury inflicted by previous employers in Hong Kong, in Padang on February 10, 2023. Puspitasari, who was beaten and burned by her former Hong Kong employers, leaving her suffering chronic pain, was awarded more than USD 110,000 in damages on February 10. (AFP/M. Sulthan Azzam)
A
woman from West Sumatra 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, Kartika 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 Kartika had been "treated inhumanely" and awarded her HK$868,607 ($110,650).
At the home she shares with her husband and three children in Padang, Kartika broke down in tears as she received the news by video call.
