Foreign caregiver placed in shelter after abuse video

LANGUAGE BARRIER?Siti’s employer insisted she only pinched the caregiver’s cheeks lightly, and accused her of being sneaky and disobedient

Staff writer, with CNA

An Indonesian caregiver who recorded a video of her allegedly being abused by her employer has been put in a migrant worker shelter, police said yesterday.

Police said 22-year-old Siti Inayatus Solekah arrived in Taiwan three months ago to take care of a 73-year-old woman, surnamed Mao (毛), who needs dialysis year-round.

As Siti could not speak Mandarin, she had difficulty communicating with her employer.

Lai Chien-chih (賴建智), head of the Tanzih police precinct in Taichung, said Mao often slapped Siti on the face or pinched her cheeks because she was angry that Siti could not follow her instructions due to the language barrier.

Siti said she was physically abused two to three times per week and decided to take action by setting up her mobile phone on the kitchen counter, taking a video of her being hit and sending it on Sunday to her sister, who is working in Hong Kong.

Siti’s sister posted the video on the Facebook page of the non-governmental organization Serve the People Association in Taoyuan the following day.

The association alerted police, who found nothing wrong on their first visit to Mao’s home.

After the association provided police with the video, they visited Mao’s residence again and got the abused caretaker out.

In the video, Mao can be seen pulling Siti’s collar, police said.

Mao said she wanted to teach the Indonesian caregiver a lesson because Siti often sneaked out of the house and was disobedient, but Mao insisted she only pinched Siti’s cheeks lightly.

Siti has decided to file an assault complaint against her employer, and the case has been handed over to prosecutors, police said.

Association members helped Siti move to a shelter in Taoyuan yesterday and will assist with the suit and settlement of wages.