Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): Two Indian women who were beaten and abused by their employers in Malaysia are going home after being paid compensation by the abusive couple that runs the dance school they were teaching in.
S Rajendra and M Sangeetha, both 27, have complained that their employers abused them "from day one". "Since our arrival here, we have only known fear, humiliation and tears," Sangeetha was quoted as saying by The New Straits Times Tuesday. Their three-year ordeal ended when they approached the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Malaysia’s largest party of ethnic Indians, for help last week.
MIC helped arrange a meeting between the women and their employers Sunday night to resolve the issue. MIC Youth’s welfare bureau chief T Mohan, who organised and chaired the meeting, said during the emotional meeting, the couple who ran a music and dance school in Klang admitted they had been cruel to the two Indian teachers. The couple said they had slammed the two women’s heads against a wall, resulting in permanent scars. "After apologising to the women, he said, the couple had offered Ringgit 5,700 (about $1,700) to each of them. "After some deliberation and consultation with Mohan, we were told to take it for all the trouble and pain we have endured," said Rajendra. She added that they will not be taking any further action against their employers and are relieved and looking forward to going back to India Wednesday.
"All we want is to go back to India. We don’t want revenge. We just hope this thing won’t happen to others," she said. Both Mohan and the women declined to reveal the identity of the abusive couple, the newspaper said. However, Mohan said he was disappointed that the women did not want to pursue the matter. "I wish to see their employers punished for what they did. But if the women want to go back to India, I can’t force them to stay and take legal action against their employers."
He said it was up to the police to proceed with the case. "We will send a letter to the immigration department to ban the couple from hiring foreign workers," Mohan added. Immigration enforcement chief Ishak Mohamed said his office had no jurisdiction over cases of abuse by employers, but it could blacklist such employers from hiring foreign workers. However, he added that there had to be a formal complaint before the department could investigate. "If there are no complaints, we can’t proceed," Mohamed said.
Reuters report: Malaysia suspends Indian workers
Malaysia has suspended the recruitment of workers from India and Bangladesh, the government said on Tuesday, in a move one official said could be linked to a recent uproar about Malaysia’s treatment of ethnic Indians.
The ban, which took effect from Dec 31, 2007, could further strain relations between the two countries after some Indian politicians sympathised with ethnic Indians who said they have been marginalised by the Malay-majority government. "The cabinet decided about two weeks ago to freeze the intake of workers from India and Bangladesh," a Home Ministry official told Reuters.
Existing workers from the two countries would not have their work permits renewed, he said, adding that the ban applied to all categories of workers including professionals.
Other ministry officials confirmed the ban but did not give a reason. Indians make up about eight percent of the two million registered foreign workers in Malaysia.
They are mainly employed in the construction, information technology and financial services industries in Malaysia.
Relations between India and Malaysia have been hurt by recent allegations of discrimination by the ethnic community in this Southeast Asian country.
Ethnic Indians held a mass anti-government protest in November, alleging that the authorities have sidelined the community because of an affirmative action policy that favours the majority ethnic Malays.
Some Indian politicians, including Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, expressed concern about the treatment of ethnic Indians in Malaysia. Around 7 percent of Malaysia’s 26 million people are ethnic Indians, whose forefathers were brought to the Southeast Asian country as labourers by British colonial rulers.
Source: ibnlive.com/news
