Abused Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana to sue hiring agency for neglecting her safety

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, the domestic helper at the centre of an abuse case that has shaken Hong Kong and made headlines around the world, is planning to sue the Indonesian agency that recruited her, her lawyer said.

Samsudin Nurseha, director of the Legal Aid Institute, told the in Yogyakarta, in Central Java, that a case will be mounted on the grounds that the agency had not taken adequate steps to ensure Erwiana's safety while she was in Hong Kong.

"We will take the action after the verdict in Hong Kong. We are planning criminal and civil action. The agency must be punished by law," he said in an interview last week.

He said that Erwiana's family would file a report to the police that the Indonesian agency, Graha Ayu Karsa, had failed to ensure the protection of Erwiana during her eight months in Hong Kong from May 2013 to January.

Indonesian agencies by law must ensure the protection of maids when they are abroad, he said.

"Police must then investigate and find out which person in the agency is responsible for what happened to Erwiana," he said.