A female migrant worker from Indonesia has been rescued by a joint effort by police and the New Taipei City government after she was tortured by her employer, the city's Labor Affairs Department reported Saturday.



According to the labor department, the worker had been barred from leaving the residence of her employer in Banqiao District for several months.



According to a department investigation, the employer cut her pay for a couple of months, saying her performance failed to live up to expectations. She was also slapped on the face and given only kitchen leftovers by the employer, surnamed Lin.



The worker, who was employed as a caregiver for a sick elderly family member of the employer, was rescued Jan. 11 when an inspector from the department made a surprise visit to the worker after she called the department to complain about her situation.



During the inspector's visit, the migrant worker ran quickly from the second floor to the ground floor, showing the inspector bloodstained toilet paper and a diary in which she had kept a record of her treatment, the department said.



The inspector tried to take the worker away from the house and place her in a shelter, but the efforts were blocked by the employer for about two hours until police intervened, the department added.



The labor department said that prior to the worker's rescue, inspectors had attempted to visit her several times, but the employer used a variety of excuses to keep the inspectors from seeing her.



In retaliation, the employer complained to the department that the inspector lacked good manners while on duty and accused the inspector of entering the residence without permission.



Currently, the labor department of the New Taipei City government has only 41 inspectors to oversee almost 100,000 migrant workers, creating tremendous pressure and a heavy workload.