Malaysian Embassy Assures Protesters

Malaysian Embassy Assures Protesters Of Swift Action Over Maid's Death
By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

JAKARTA, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian embassy here Wednesday explained to protesters at its gates the government was acting swiftly to prosecute the Malaysian employer of an Indonesian maid who had died following alleged physical abuse.

Head of Chancery Mohd Norhisyam Mohd Yusoff told about 30 protesters from Migrant Care - the Indonesian association of migrant workers -- that the employer couple had been arrested.

He handed to the demonstrators a copy of the statement issued in Kuala Lumpur by Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman, in which the minister had expressed the Malaysian government's condemnation of the abuse and said it was conducting an immediate investigation to prosecute the offenders.

The maid, Mantik Hani, 36, from East Java, died at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, Selangor, on Monday after she had been admitted there a week earlier.

Mohd Norhisyam told Bernama he told the protesters, who demonstrated peacefully for about an hour, that even the Malaysian people had condemned the abuse of Mantik and wanted the offenders to be severely penalised.

-- BERNAMA