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Hong Kong boss cut Indonesian maid's finger in row over dog, court told
Helper says attempt to silence barking corgi sparked knife incident - but defence counsel has a different view
PUBLISHED : Friday, 23 January, 2015, 12:49am
UPDATED : Friday, 23 January, 2015, 12:49am
Chris Lau [email protected]
Defendant Ngan Suk-wai (left) pleaded not guilty to one charge of wounding Anis Andriyani (right) with intent. Photos: David Wong, K.Y. Cheng
A boss enraged by her new maid's attempts to keep a barking dog quiet took a knife and cut the Indonesian helper's finger, the District Court heard on Thursday.
In the latest in a string of high-profile cases centring on alleged mistreatment of domestic helpers, defendant Ngan Suk-wai, 39, pleaded not guilty to one charge of wounding Anis Andriyani with intent.
Prosecutors say the attack happened at Ngan's flat in Pokfulam Gardens, Pok Fu Lam, on February 24 last year, less than a week after Anis started work.
The 26-year-old maid said she was attacked when she waved a broomstick and made brushing noises in front of one of Ngan's two dogs, a Welsh corgi, in an attempt to stop the dog from barking.
An angry Ngan dragged the maid to the kitchen by her wrist, the court heard.
"My employer took out a knife from the cupboard … and she pressed my hand against a chopping board," Anis said. She tried to pull her hand away but Ngan "overpowered me".
In the struggle, the knife landed on her left ring finger, the court heard. It caused a deep wound in the middle part of the finger, covering three-quarters of the finger's circumference.
Anis told the court she alerted another Indonesian maid in the next flat after the defendant went to work. The other maid contacted the agency through which Anis was hired, which contacted the defendant and security in her building.
The defendant contacted police and called an ambulance herself, the court heard.
But in cross-examination, defence counsel Adonis Cheung Kam-wing questioned the maid's account. Cheung queried the witness' claim that her left palm was pressed against the chopping board when the assault took place. Had that been the case, he put it to her, the cut would have been to the back of her finger, not the side.
He also asked the maid to explain why only one finger was injured and how the wound could be circular. "I was struggling," the witness answered repeatedly.
Cheung put it to Anis that she had cooked up the accusations because she did not want to work for Ngan any longer.
One reason for that, Cheung told the court, was that the maid was a Muslim. Many of her faith found dogs' saliva offensive, he said. The witness therefore did not want to look after the defendant's dogs.
He also cited the discrepancies between the evidence Anis gave yesterday and a statement she gave to police last year.
The trial will continue on Monday before Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan.
In the public gallery yesterday was Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, one of three Indonesian maids allegedly abused by their employer, Law Wan-tung. A verdict in that case is due next month.
