An Indonesian maid died after falling eight storeys from her employer's apartment in an apparent attempt to elope with her boyfriend, newspapers reported today.

The 33-year-old woman had fashioned a rope out of towels, bedsheets and tablecloths to climb down from her window on Sunday, the Star newspaper said.

The sheets ripped and caused her to plunge to her death.

Police said the woman had recently begun working for her employers in Penang. They said preliminary investigation showed that she was planning on running away to be with her Indonesian boyfriend who was also working in the state.

Police said several text messages on her mobile phone indicated that the two had been planning her escape.

Malaysia is home to more than 320,000 foreign maids, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines.

- dpa