“No! We had no sexual relations. He was my boss. What would
his wife think of me!”
Thus said a Filipina maid who accused her 66-year-old boss
of raping her in March and October 2014 and indecently assaulting her “almost
everyday” since September 2013.
Parrying questions by the defense lawyer in the High Court on Apr 14 and 15, the complainant vehemently denied the
defense lawyer’s imputation that she had sexual relations with the defendant,
Lee Man-biu.
The 48-year-old mother angrily
denied during cross-examination by Barrister Oliver Davies that she and Lee had
had intimate moments touching each other’s body on the sofa while Lee’s wife
and daughter were in China.
She said that after signing her fifth contract
with the family, Lee squeezed her breasts and said: “Don’t tell the police. I
will throw you out the window. You and me die.”
Hidden from the gallery behind a white
plyboard divider, the complainant fought back as the lawyer obviously tried to
confuse and force her into making inconsistent statements.
The second day of the cross-examination dwelt
on the alleged rape on Oct 13, 2014.
Lee, who is out on bail, sat quietly in the
dock while the seven-man jury listened intently as the complainant spoke. The
defendant’s wife and other relatives were in the gallery.
The complainant said that during the times the
man’s wife Joan and his daughter Gwen were in China, she was scared because he
would indecently assault her “almost everyday” and hit her in the head if she resisted.
At one point during the cross-examination the
woman admitted the employer paid her $5,000. She also admitted she had kept
$60,000 in her room, money that she would take home.
On the alleged rape on Oct 13, 2014, the
lawyer imputed that Lee did not rape her but that what happened between them
was “consensual sex”.
“No! I was raped. He was strong and my body
ached afterwards and my back was painful because he bit me when I turned and
tried to get up,” the woman said.
The lawyer asked why on the night of Oct 13,
2014, when the alleged rape occurred, the complainant told responding police
officers not to stay out of Lee’s sight.
“Because I did not want him to kill himself.
He told me if I tell the police, he would throw me out of the window and we
both die.”
Davies suggested that the complainant offered
sex to Lee because she wanted to go home to the Philippines and needed the
money to pay a debt there.
The complainant angrily punctuated her answers
with sobbing during the two-day cross-examination as Davies tried to establish
a basis for doubt in her statements.
After Davies rested his case, the prosecutor
took his turn and asked the Filipina where she was taken by police on the night
she called them for help.
She said she was taken to a hospital in Tsuen
Wan and then to another hospital in Wanchai for medical examination.
When asked by the prosecutor, she replied that
the doctor in the second hospital rubbed moist cotton buds on her body, her
back and her legs. The prosecutor asked where else and she answered in her
vagina. Her testimony ended there.
Justice Toh adjourned the court after at the
morning break. The trial will continue on Monday, April 18, with other
witnesses to be called to give evidence.
