By Vir B. Lumicao
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| Rimas shortly after the assault in April last year |
A Chinese housewife got away on Jan 16 with just a $3,000
fine for physically assaulting her Filipina domestic worker last year, but she and her
husband can no longer hire a maid from the Philippines.
Zhang Qi, 39, who was originally from mainland China, pleaded
guilty to common assault on G. Rimas, 42, before Eastern Court Magistrate Jacky
Ip, who proceeded to convict her of the offense.
Rimas expressed disappointment over the sentence, saying it
was too light for the wrong done to her. The view was shared by Edwina Antonio
of the Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge, who has been assisting her in the
case.
"Hindi
lang dapat ganun ang parusa sa ginawa niya sa biktima," Antonio said after
the sentencing. "Pero mabuti na rin iyon at may criminal record na
siya, hindi tulad ng bindover na wala siyang magiging record.”
She said
Zhang’s lawyer had approached them before the hearing with an offer of $5,000
in compensation for the helper, “maybe more”. But she should support Zhang’s
plea for a bindover – a promise not to reoffend within a specified period with
a certain sum for surety.
After the court hearing, Rimas and
Antonio proceeded to the Consulate to have
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| Jubilant after her employer's sentencing |
Zhang and her husband Simon J. Eckersley blacklisted so they
can no longer hire Filipino helpers.
In sentencing, magistrate Ip chided Zhang for her “serious
crime”, saying Hong Kong courts protect domestic helpers who had left their
families to come here and work.
“No matter the issue, there’s no reason for you to use
violence against the domestic helper. Hong Kong
is a civilized society and does not tolerate any violence against a domestic
helper,” Ip said.
“It has an impact that embarrasses Hong
Kong ,” he said.
Rimas was visibly relieved after the sentencing. She
immediately called her farmer husband to tell the news. The couple has three children
aged 19-24, and a one-year-old grandson.
About half an hour earlier, she burst out crying when she saw
Zhang arrive for the trial with her private lawyers.
But she was consoled and massaged by Antonio and a fellow client
at the shelter who accompanied her to court.
In mitigation, the defense counsel described Zhang as a
former mainland businesswoman who came to Hong Kong with her husband to ‘take
motherhood seriously” raising her three-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.
The lawyer said his client “is very embarrassed to be here
today” because of the case and had been seeing a clinical psychologist
regularly since the incident.
Seeking the most lenient sentence, he said Zhang had a bad day
on Apr 18 because one of her three maids ran away at 2pm and the victim wanted to
follow suit in the evening.
The court was told that the incident started when Zhang
asked to see Rimas’ passport but was told she did not have the travel document
because it was with somebody else in Wanchai.
Rimas allegedly tried to leave through the backdoor of the
Repulse Bay home at around 6pm but Zhang prevented her.
When the maid reached the lift, Zhang grabbed her right arm and
tried to drag her out. They struggled until the lift opened in the car park
lobby and the Filipina called for help from the guards. He said it was during
the struggle that she sustained injuries.
Court records show Rimas had a small laceration over her left
eyebrow, small red scratch marks on her right wrist, a bruise on the third
knuckle of her left hand, and a red mark on her left hand.
The helper told The SUN she started working for Zhang and
her family on Dec 23, 2015. She said Zhang’s first assaulted her on Apr 4,
2016, when she pushed her forcefully from the dining room to the maid’s room
while verbally abusing her.
On Apr 18, after a maid named Jailine fled, Zhang vented her
ire on Rimas “because she (Zhang) knew I encouraged her to escape from the
maltreatment we were suffering”.
“I was overcome by fear that she’d hurt me again so I also decided
to flee,” she said.
Antonio said Rimas is considering an appeal against Zhang’s
sentence, and could also file a separate civil claim for damages against the
employer.
