A 78-year-old woman was found guilty in Hong Kong’s District Court on Monday for splashing hot water on a newly-hired Indonesian domestic worker.
Gee Hoo Giok, an Indonesian Chinese woman, was found guilty on one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of breaching the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, the Apple Daily reported.
Deputy District Judge Li Chi-ho ordered the defendant to be remanded in custody pending background and psychological reports before sentencing on November 19.
The court heard that Indonesian domestic worker Ismiati, 29, was hired via an employment agency on January 24 last year. But when she reported for duty on March 27, she was told that her employer’s husband had passed away the night before.
After only working for the defendant for three days, Ismiati said the woman accused her of being “stupid,” of “cooking too slow” and blamed the worker for her husband’s death as she did not report for duty earlier.
On the third day, Ismiati was in the kitchen and felt pain on her back and turned and saw Gee standing behind her. She believed Gee had thrown hot water on her.
The defense lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying the defendant was too old to be punished by a community service order and he hoped the court would accept that the defendant committed the crime as she was out of control at the time.
Judge Li said the case was a serious crime and he would not be sentencing her to a community service order.
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