Maid murderer sentenced - Malaysia urges return of Indonesian maids

Jul 20, 2010, 10:10 GMT

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's maid employment agencies Tuesday urged the Indonesian government to lift a ban on sending its maids after a court sentenced a man to death for murdering his Indonesian maid.

The Malaysian High Court handed down the death sentence Monday to A Murugan, 36, for causing the death of 36-year-old Muntik Bani in October.

Muntik was rescued after being locked in a toilet for two days. She succumbed to the severe wounds on her face and body, three days after slipping into a coma.

Muntik's case caused a diplomatic row between Malaysia and Indonesia, escalating already-tense relations which had led to Jakarta banning the sending of maids to Malaysia in June 2009.

Malaysian maid agencies have appealed to the Indonesian government to lift the ban, saying many maids continued to enter the country through illegal agencies, thus making it even harder to monitor and oversee their safety.

'Our authorities have been serious from the beginning, and for this reason, the Indonesian government should also not delay in (lifting the freeze),' Alwi Bavutty, president of the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies, was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.

Murugan's lawyers have said they will appeal the sentence.

Despite numerous talks between the two countries, the maid ban has yet to be lifted, with officials saying the outstanding problem is the issue of minimum wage.

Malaysia has already agreed to give the maids one day off a week, and make it compulsory for employers to let domestic workers keep their own working documents.

However, officials say Kuala Lumpur is unwilling to agree to a minimum monthly salary of 800 ringgit (250 dollars) for the maids, who currently earn as little as 400 ringgit a month.

Malaysia is home to 320,000 foreign maids, 85 per cent of whom are from Indonesia.