Police are investigating the allegations of unpaid wages, assault and abandonment of an Indonesian domestic worker.
Ningrat (not her real name), who had worked in Kuwait, Oman and Jordan for more than a decade, described her ordeal in Malaysia as her worst experience.
However, her former employer claimed he was afraid for his family’s safety after hiring the 47-year-old woman.
Harlem Shah, who, according to his LinkedIn page, has the title "Prof Dato Sri Dr" claimed Ningrat behaved as if she was “possessed by spirits” six months into her employment.
“From the moment I took her, she started showing signs of ‘craziness’ and I have videos to show that this lady is mad,” he told Malaysiakini.
Harlem, 46, who describes himself as a “pain specialist” and runs a pain relief centre in Petaling Jaya, was referring to the CCTV footage submitted to the Sentul police headquarters to facilitate investigations.
When contacted, the investigating officer confirmed receiving the recording on April 26 but was unable to recover additional footage because the CCTVs were uninstalled on the same day from Harlem’s Bukit Tunku home to be fitted at his new house in Country Heights.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code in relation to voluntarily causing hurt.
According to him, Harlem claimed he intended to send Ningrat back to Indonesia and handed her unharmed to an employment agency, which was not the one that had originally placed her with him.
Meanwhile, the employment agency that placed Ningrat with Harlem said it had not heard from the latter since leaving her in his care in December 2017.
“We never received any complaints. If she really had mental problems, she could be sent back. No issues,” said a spokesperson.
‘Bomoh summoned, spirits exorcised’
Harlem has posted a 20-second clip of Ningrat on TikTok with the background sounds, which he described in the caption as "Amityville Horror – Scary Halloween Sound Effects".
The words "Ghost@Bukit Tunku" are displayed throughout the video which, among others, showed Ningrat walking unsteadily in the living room before falling to the floor.
When shown the clip, Ningrat alleged that the post, dated Oct 7, 2021, contained footage of what happened after she had been punched on the side of her head and beaten with slippers.
Before the alleged beating, Ningrat said she had been locked in her room the whole day without food.
"I was disoriented and in pain. I felt stressed and scared because of the way my employer treated me.
"That was so long ago. I can't remember why he hit me, but he beat me with whatever he could get his hands on," she claimed.
Harlem, when quizzed on the clip, said: “We thought she was possessed by ghosts and that was the first time she was behaving like that.”
This appeared to contradict Harlem's earlier claim that Ningrat first exhibited signs of strange behaviour six months into her employment or rather, in mid-2018.
“I called a bomoh who confirmed there were at least five spirits in her. He managed to extract three or four spirits,” he said, adding that a Christian priest was also called to address the issue but to no avail.
Harlem, who confirmed that Ningrat started working for him in December 2017 under a two-year contract, said he was unable to send her back due to the travel restrictions related to Covid-19.
“The last two years she was with me, she did not work and I was taking care of her. I hired cleaning services to clean my house while she just wandered around the house,” he added.
An Indonesian embassy spokesperson told Malaysiakini that Harlem had initially denied any knowledge of Ningrat after she was found abandoned.
The spokesperson explained that because Ningrat had no belongings with her, they had traced Ningrat’s recruitment agency back in Jakarta to connect to the placement agency in Malaysia, which led them to the identity of her employer here.
Dispute over wages
While Harlem claimed to have paid all of Ningrat’s wages through Western Union money transfer to her aunt in Indonesia and, on occasion, her husband, Ningrat alleged that only a total of RM1,800 had been paid over the four years she had worked for him.
Harlem also claimed that all the Western Union money transfer slips were handed over to Ningrat.
The employment agency clarified that the terms of the contract required Harlem to pay a monthly wage of RM1,100 including overtime.
On April 21, passers-by had alerted the police to the presence of Ningrat, who was spotted crying by the roadside. She was barefoot and had bruises.
Ningrat claimed that her employer dragged her out of the house and shoved her into a car before driving off and abandoning her.
Harlem denied the allegation of abuse, claiming that the bruises on Ningrat’s face were due to “make-up.” He also claimed not to know how her knees and elbow were gashed.
In a telephone interview with Malaysiakini, Ningrat alleged that her daily routine at her former employer’s residence started at 5.30am and she went to bed between midnight and 1am.
“But if there were visitors over, I would go to bed at 3.30am and wake up again at 5.30am,” she said.
As for her meals, Ningrat claimed she had leftovers either once or twice a day depending on whether there was food in the fridge and sometimes she did not eat at all.
"They always scold me that I am jorok (smelly), bodoh (stupid) and call me names of animals," she said.
She also alleged that she was never allowed to perform her prayers and regretted not being able to fast during the month of Ramadan.
Harlem denied the allegations and has lodged a counter-report.
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