A pregnant former domestic worker from Indonesia has applied to seek leave to appeal to the Hong Kong High Court the Torture Claims Appeal Board’s decision denying her latest torture claim.
The Indonesian woman arrived in Hong Kong as a domestic worker in June 2009 but was jailed for four weeks for theft in 2011, Oriental Daily reported.
During her time in prison, she filed a torture claim application. Since then, she has been staying in Hong Kong and trying to avoid repatriation.
Over the past seven years, the woman has made torture claims for various reasons, including that she was afraid her husband in Indonesia would attack her as she had borrowed money on his behalf.
But the Immigration Department and Torture Claims Appeal Board have rejected her arguments previously.
The reason given for her latest application is that she had an affair in Hong Kong and is now pregnant. She said she risked being subjected to persecution by family and village people if she were to return to Indonesia.
The board turned down her application and she has sought leave to appeal against the that decision.
The Court of Appeal rejected the reasons she gave. However, as the Torture Claims Appeal Board provided insufficient reasons for the rejection of her application, the court allowed the applicant to file a judicial-review application in the High Court.