Police have arrested a husband and wife who have allegedly abused their 60-year-old Indonesian maid at their home in Skudai. — Reuters

JOHOR BARU, Dec 17 — Police have arrested a husband and wife who have allegedly abused their 60-year-old Indonesian maid at their home in Skudai.

The arrest came following a report lodged by the Indonesian Consulate-General here recently.

The couple, a 48-year-old female doctor and her 50-year-old bus driver husband, have allegedly exploited and abused their undocumented Indonesian maid for the past eight years.

The victim, who hails from Java, has diabetes and is suffering from an infection on her left leg. She was believed to have started working with the suspects since 2009.

Sources familiar with the ongoing case said the victim was rescued by the police from her employer’s double-storey terrace house in Taman Sri Putri, Skudai here on December 4 following information provided by the Indonesian Consulate-General in Johor Baru.

“The victim was sent for medical observation and is reported to be stable. She is currently receiving medical treatment for her leg wound and diabetes at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital with 24-hour police protection,” sources said to Malay Mail today.

It was learnt that in the few days after the rescue, police searched the suspects’ house and verified the victim’s claims from the Indonesian Consulate-General’s information based on a letter from a resident in the victim’s neighbourhood.

Following that, a formal police report on the alleged abuse was lodged by an Indonesian Consulate-General staff at the Skudai police station on Thursday.

Sources said investigators from the Johor Baru North Criminal Investigations Department (CID) then arrested the husband on the same day at their family house in Taman Sri Putri, followed by the arrest of the wife at the Johor Baru North district police headquarters last night.

“Initial investigations revealed that the case involved a complex arrangement by the couple and their maid, where the latter was believed to have been constantly abused physically and verbally, at times not given food, forced to take care of the household chores and the care of two dogs.”

Sources also revealed that the victim, who has no valid work permit or a passport, has also not seen any of the RM500 per month money owed to her as wages that was apparently said to have been banked into a bank account.

“She had no one to turn to for help except for the neighbour who secretly assisted with her clothing, undergarments and other basic needs,” said the sources, adding that the alleged physical and verbal abuse mainly came from the female suspect who works as a doctor in a polyclinic in Pasir Gudang.

Besides the abuse, sources described the case as having elements of contemporary slavery in the form of indentured labour and domestic servitude where the victim was not paid any wages nor had any kind of welfare provided.

“From investigations, the suspects’ were alleged to have denied basic needs and also healthcare to the victim, who is a senior citizen suffering from diabetes,” revealed the sources.

Investigators are probing the case further and will call in witnesses for statements, while police have also applied for an Interim Protection Order (IPO) from the Johor Baru courts. There has been no seizure of items by police yet.

The case has been classified under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007 for human trafficking and also Section 39 (b) of the Immigration Act 1963 for hiring foreign workers without a permit.