Malaysian man accused in Aussie court of using Indonesian woman as slave

 Chong Chee Kit and his wife Angie Liaw allegedly assaulted the victim and deprived her of sleep as punishment.

Chong Chee Kit is accused in the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne of knowingly using the Indonesian woman as a slave while his wife, Angie Liaw, was charged with assisting or encouraging the offence. (County Court of Victoria pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 An Australian court today heard how a Malaysian man, charged alongside his wife with abusing an Indonesian woman, threatened and coerced the alleged victim to provide domestic services.

Chong Chee Kit was said to have repeatedly told the victim that she had to work “to repay supposed debts” after being accused of losing the company credit card, ABC News reported.

“And when (the victim) failed to meet Chong’s expectations, they would punish her by assaulting her, also by depriving her of sleep and food,” prosecutor Shaun Ginsbourg was quoted as telling the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne.

Chong is accused of knowingly using the woman as a slave, while his wife, Angie Liaw, was charged with assisting or encouraging the offence. The couple claimed trial when they were charged in 2023.

The Indonesian worker, who cannot be named, had agreed to live with the couple as Liaw was giving birth to her second child. The victim was only meant to stay for a month.

The defence lawyers, however, argued that various allegations were in dispute, including claims of abuse, sleep or food deprivation, as well as the credit card story.

“There may be reasons (the complainant) may exaggerate or embellish or say things that are untruthful,” Chong’s lawyer, Diana Price said.

The court also heard that Chong had established a “mother-son” like relationship with the Indonesian woman, after the pair met at a church in Malaysia.

In 2017, the woman moved to Australia to live with the couple only for the husband and wife to return to Malaysia without informing the victim, “throwing her into homelessness for four years”.

However, in 2021, the couple told the Indonesian woman they were back in Melbourne and offered to let her work for them for a month.

Prosecutors said that Chong behaved as if he “owned” the victim and on one occasion told her that she could leave if she paid a million dollars. The court heard that the alleged victim was ordered to clean the house and massage Chong’s legs, among others.

Once, when she fell asleep while massaging him, he allegedly hit her with a vacuum cleaner, while other punishments, according to prosecutors, included being ordered to stand up all night so she couldn’t sleep, and being locked in the garage.

“He would often hit or kick her. He would also punish her by telling her she could not sleep or eat that day,” Ginsburg said, adding that Chong dictated the alleged victim’s access to food and facilities.

The woman’s time with the couple ended in October 2022 when a nurse reported the injuries to federal police, prompting an investigation.

However, the court was told that Chong said he had offered the woman a place to stay because she was homeless and explained that her injuries were due to diabetes, falling over, and an assault by homeless people.

He also denied ordering her to do tasks, insisting it was her idea.

Liaw told police that she and Chong met the woman on the streets of Melbourne, and denied restricting the woman’s access to food.

The Indonesian woman died in 2024. - FMT