21-year-old Adelina Lisao from East Nusa Tenggara was forced to sleep with dogs and died due to multiple organ failure
Yohana Bunanaek (second from left), mother of Adelina Lisaon, attends the hearing at Pulau Pinang High Court in Malaysia on Feb.8. (Photo: Indonesian foreign ministry)
A court in Malaysia has granted a civil lawsuit by the family of a female migrant Indonesian worker who was mistreated by her employer before she died in 2018.
The Pulau Penang High Court in Malaysia on Feb. 8 asked the employer of 21-year-old Adelina Lisao from the Christian-majority East Nusa Tenggara province in Indonesia to pay a fine of 750,000 Malaysian ringgit (US$157,101)
Wanton Saragih, Indonesian consul general in northwestern Penang, said that this victory “shows that there is justice for the late Adelina.”
This decision is expected to have a deterrent effect on employers who treat Indonesian migrant workers inhumanely, he said in a statement.
Yohana Bunanaek, Adelina’s mother, assisted by the Indonesian foreign ministry facilitated a civil lawsuit in Malaysia last year.
Adelina died of a multiple organ failure in a Penang hospital on Feb. 11, 2018, after being rescued from her employer’s home a day earlier by a migrant workers’ protection group.
She was found outside her employer’s house with bruises on her face and head injuries.
It was alleged Adelina was forced to sleep on the porch with the dog and was poorly fed.
Her employer, Ambika M.A. Shan, was arrested for murder while her daughter was charged with hiring a maid without a valid work permit.
However, in June 2022 a court in Malaysia acquitted the employer because of lack of evidence.
Even though the defendant was not present at the hearing, the judge still granted this lawsuit.
Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, a member of the bishops’ commission on migrants who took part in the advocacy movement demanding justice for Adelina, hailed all those “who have fought for Adelina.”
“This is certainly good news and a lesson for many parties,” he said.
East Nusa Tenggara, a backward province in Indonesia, suppliers migrant workers to Malaysia to work as domestic maids and in palm oil plantations.
Some 1.7 million Indonesians work in Malaysia, primarily in the agricultural and construction sectors. A recent report by the International Labor Organization said that nearly a third of migrants employed as domestic help in Malaysia are exploited.
“Bilateral cooperation in this matter must be increased,” Father Saturnus said.
Gabriel Goa Sola from Zero Human Trafficking Network said many others are facing troubles in Malaysia.
Collaboration is needed between the government, advocacy groups, religious institutions and the media, said Sola.
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