A Malaysian paraplegic suffered five months of abuse at the hands of her Indonesian maid who later fled with her cash and belongings, a report said today.

K. Kaliamah was scalded with boiling water and pushed off her wheelchair o­n several occasions but suffered in silence as she needed someone to nurse her, The Star said.

The maid recently ran away and stole Kaliamah's cash, jewellery, handbags and clothes worth a total RM8,000.

To stress a point

Kaliamah said she had lodged a police report and decided to publicise her ordeal following a recent ruling by the immigration department to ban abusive employers from hiring domestic help.

"I would like to stress a point that not all employers are wicked as some of us are victims of abusive maids too," she told the newspaper.

A number of cases involving maid abuse highlighted in the local media recently have caused fresh concern in Malaysia where stories of abused maids are becoming increasingly common.

Some 200,000 foreigners, mostly Indonesians, work as domestic helpers in the country. -AFP