Tenaganita wants AG to respond after the boss of the maid has murdered

GEORGE TOWN: A women's rights group today denounced the prosecutor's decision to give up a murder case against an employer who allegedly abused her Indonesian maid.

Adelina Lisao, 26, died of multiple organ failure following alleged abuse at a home in Bukit Mertajam last year.

Adelina's employer, Ambika MA Shan, 61, escaped from the gallows after the Supreme Court gave her a full acquittal on a charge of murder, after the deputy prosecutor asked for a waiver not equal to an acquittal.

Tenaganita's executive director, Glorene A Das, said the court's decision was shocking and that the Attorney General's Chambers should answer why there was no justice for Adelina when there was apparently clear evidence.

"She was a young woman raised to work for two years without pay. She was a young woman whose body was brutalized. Your death has to mean something.

"Why did our courts fail with it? Why has the Malaysian government failed with it? Where is justice for Adelina? "She asked in a statement today.

Glorene said that with the government launching a "war" against human trafficking and forced labor, the fall of the case shows no justice for victims like Adelina, who were apparently tortured at work.

"Tenaganita is distracted by this news. We can not imagine the unbearable pain of Adelina's family, "she said.

Adelina's miserable living conditions were first noticed by a troubled neighbor.

The neighbor then warned a Facebook journalist on the subject. Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim later sent his team to investigate.

Adeline was found with pus-filled hands and legs and she could barely walk. His wounds seemed not to be healing. She was also forced to sleep on the porch with a dog.

Her employers took her to the Bukit Mertajam Hospital at the request of the Sim team.

She died after spending a night in the hospital. The case of Adelina attracted the attention of national newspapers in Indonesia.

Tenaganita called this "widespread and profound malaise" in society in its treatment of migrant domestic workers.

The Indonesian Consul General in Penang, Iwanshah Wibisono, who had participated in the lawsuit, had previously said that Adelina's family had received their deferred salary in the amount of RM69,300 from their former employer.