A 20-year-old Indonesian domestic helper has claimed that despite being raped 21 times by her former employer, she is yet to see the man pay for his crimes.

Speaking at a conference in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan yesterday, Sri Suryani said she had to endure the sexual abuse for two years at the hands of her employer, who bears a Tan Sri title and is a prominent businessman in the plantation sector.

During this time, she said she did not know what to do or who to turn to for help. She could not leave the country as well since her passport was being withheld by her employer.

As a domestic worker, Malaysian employers are stipulated by the 1997 agreement on domestic workers to hold the passports of their foreign employees.

Sri Suryani's break came when the staff of her former employer advised her to seek help from the Indonesian consulate-general operating in Johor Bahru..

On Jan 28 last year, she managed to escape and seek shelter at the consulate with another Indonesian worker.

"The consulate wanted to deport me the following day. But I protested. I wanted to raise what had happened with the authorities," added Sri Suryani, who now works as a coordinator for a Jakarta-based non-government organisation championing the rights of migrants.

However, she claimed that the consulate was not interested in pursuing her case and nothing happened for the next few months.

Then a new officer arrived and assisted her in lodging a police report in March this year.

Ordeal continues

But her ordeal continued as Sri Suryani claimed that the Tun Aminah Hospital did not submit the findings of her medical examination to the police even until when she left Malaysia three months later.

She also alleged that when she disclosed her intention to pursue compensation from her employer amounting to RM63,000, the Indonesian consul told her that this was akin to blackmail.

The consul had also allegedly accused her of fabricating the claims.

Sri Suryani also recounted how she had failed to remember the exact number of times she had been raped when lodging her police report.

"I had to recall the whole experience over two years. Even the officer told me that he understood my position and that I could take my time to recall the details.

"I had none of my documents with me. Every time he raped me, I wrote it down. But I did not bring my diary to the station," she said.

Compensation offered

Sri Suryani claimed that her employer later offered to pay her RM10,000. The offer was made via his son and lawyer.

"According to the consul, my employer was going to give me RM7,000 and his son offered to add another RM3,000 because he felt pity for me.

"I said no. I did not want the money. I wanted to take him to court," she said.

She also alleged that the consul had told her that she could not remain in the country because she had attempted to blackmail her employer.

Prior to sending her home, she claimed that officers at the consulate had forced her to sign a document that stated she would not pursue action against her former employer, the recruitment agency and the consulate.

"I had to sign it. What else could I do? It was either sign the document or be sent to a detention camp because my papers were no longer valid, as I broke my employment contract when I left my employer," she said.

Forged documents

The legality of her status was complicated by the wrong information on her passport and recruitment files, which she claimed were forged by the recruitment agency in order to expedite her work visa process.

Her passport states that she was born on Jan 11, 1973 and that she lived in Pandeglang, West Java. However, Sri Suryani was actually born on Jan 28, 1983 and hails from Wonosobo, East Java.

She said the Indonesian police is investigating the matter.

On her case against her former employer, she lamented that she did not how to pursue the matter.

"The police (in Malaysia) interviewed my former employer," she said, adding that there has been no information on this to date.

However, Sri Suryani was hopeful that she could seek legal redress through the Indonesian authorities.

"My lawyers are now looking into raising the case in Indonesian courts," she added.

The three-day regional conference on undocumented migrants which began on Monday also heard other labour and social activists from Thailand, Burma, Singapore, as well as Japan, Korea, United Arab Emirates and Israel.