By The SUN
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| Kartika (left) leaves District Court with Mission for Migrant Workers' Cynthia Tellez and International Migrant Alliance head Eni Lestari |
Kartika Puspitasari, the Indonesian domestic helper who suffered worse physical assault from her employers and earlier than the more renowned Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, appeared in District Court today, Thursday, to testify in a case where she is claiming $1.24 million in damages.
Twelve years after the attacks, the insurance company that covered her employment compensation has paid $350,000 for its share of the liability. But Kartika has not received a cent from the amount because it is deposited with the Legal Aid, which provided her lawyers, until the case is completed.
This left Kartika suing her former employers Tai Chi Wai and Catherine Au Yuk-shan for an additional $893,867 plus interest for the injuries she suffered in their two years of violence from October 2010 to October 2012 while she was working for them as a domestic helper.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Tai and Chan, who had been jailed three years and three
months and five and a half years, respectively, in a criminal trial
that ended in 2013, did not appear in court to challenge Kartika's testimony which
was prodded with questions from barrister Percy Yue.
After a half-day hearing in which she recounted the trauma and the psychological effects she still experiences, including showing her injuries to Master
Catherine Cheng behind closed door, Kartika's case was adjourned for Dec. 15 for a decision on how much she should get in damages.
Watching her in the courtroom were members of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body-International Migrants Alliance (AMCB-IMA) Hong Kong and the Mission for Migrant Workers, who helped her bring the case to court.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Before that, the groups also held a picket in front of the District Court building, calling for justice for Kartika, and the removal of all discriminatory policies against foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong.
"AMCB believes that Kartika, Erwiana and many other other victims are not isolated cases. There are many FDWs who experience similar violation and abuse inside their employers' houses. However, the Hong Kong government continues to deny this reality and fails to protect the FDWs," AMCB said in a statement.
"Worst, despite the high-profile cases of abuses among FDWs and our significant contribution to the local economy, FDWs remain to be treated as slaves in the city. We are continuously subjected to various discriminatory policies such as mandatory live-in, restrictive visa policies like the two-week rule, exclusion from the statutory minimum wage, no regulation on working/resting hours as well as food and accommodation. We are even excluded from the government’s financial assistance and relief of Covid related schemes," it added.
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| Migrants who picketed outside court to show support for Kartika show their placards |
In the itemized listing of Kartika’s claims, the biggest item was for PSLA (pain, suffering and loss of amenities), which amounted to $500,000.
“The plaintiff (Kartika) is now left with long term physical and psychological injuries that, unfortunately, would likely continue to have residual effect for the rest of her life as opined by psychiatric experts,” her revised statement of damages said.
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Kartika is claiming $180,000 for aggravated damages “for injury to
feelings, dignity, mental suffering, humiliation and distress from the
circumstances arising from the assault, beating, threats and being tied overnight.”
She is asking $382,045 for pre-trial loss of earnings because
she had to remain jobless in Hong Kong from the start of the criminal trial on
Oct. 9, 2012 to its conclusion the next year, and the settlement of her labour claim in 2014. This, plus being on sick leave until 2015, was a three-year period assessed at $180,781.
Since she also could no longer work as a domestic helper because
of her injuries, she had to work in a job in Indonesia that paid $887
monthly -- a lot less than what she earned before she was injured in Hong Kong,
a deficiency that added up to $201,264.
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| Press for details |
Kartika also claims $5,322 for loss of earning capacity
because her injuries caused disfigurements that reduced her job prospects by 5
per cent, and psychological effects that reduced her earning capacity by 15 per
cent.
She is also claiming $22,000 for special damages so she could
buy better medicines than the soothing jelly that she applies when her
keloids itch and become painful.
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Kartika’s last claim is $104,500 for future medical expenses to pay for plastic surgery worth $22,000 to remove her keloids in a hospital in Indonesia, psychological/psychiatric treatment for three and a half years worth $77,500 and soothing jelly worth $5,000.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Abused Indonesian maid Kartika back in HK for civil claim vs employers: https://www.sunwebhk.com/2022/10/abused-indonesian-maid-kartika-back-in.html
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