Indonesian pleads guilty to assaulting wheelchair-bound man, 90

A 39-year-old Indonesian domestic worker pleaded guilty in the West Kowloon Magistrates Court on Friday to assaulting a 90-year-old man in her care.

Anisah Siti was charged with one count of common assault on the elderly man who has dementia and her assault was captured by a surveillance camera, the Ming Pao Daily reported. The prosecution told the court the man had been diagnosed with dementia in 2015.

His children hired the defendant to take care of their parent. The three lived in an apartment in Shek Lei Estate in Kwai Chung and the children visited their parents every day. The case happened when the mother was sick and in hospital, leaving the elderly man and the defendant at home.

On December 16 last year, the woman took the wheelchair-bound old man to the living room and used her left hand to slam the man’s face. She then used her right hand and hit the man’s face. She then used a towel to clean the man’s face abruptly and pushed his head. When the man’s daughter visited her father, she found red marks and bruises on his nose.

The court heard the man visited a doctor the day before, accompanied by his son, and no injury was found. The children checked the surveillance camera and saw the maid hit their father. They reported the case to police on December 17 and the man was sent to a hospital. After a medical examination, bruises were found on his face.

The defense lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying the maid had breached the trust and she had acted on impulse. Her stupidity had led to her losing a chance to work in Hong Kong anymore, the Sing Tao Daily reported.

Acting principal magistrate Ada Yim adjourned the case until February 15, pending a background report on the defendant.