Domestic Worker Alleges Abuse and Servitude in Police General's Home
Activists from the Maid Protection Network (JPPRT) protest the mistreatment of migrant workers in Jakarta on Feb. 15, 2013. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)
Bogor. Yuliana Lewer fled from a retired police general's household in Bogor on Monday, where the 17-year-old domestic worker alleged she suffered three months of indentured servitude and physical abuse at the hands of the general's wife, not the first time such accusations have been leveled against the household, police said on Thursday.
"To get more information, police have secured 16 other workers who are temporarily staying at the Bogor police offices while they're still being questioned," West Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Muhamad Iriawan said on Thursday. "After we've got sufficient information, the alleged perpetrator will be questioned."
Bogor Police Chief Adj. Sr. Cmr. Bahtiar Ujang said that the workers were in good condition and showed no signs of abuse.
Yuliana told the police that she left her home in the Aru islands, in eastern Indonesia's Maluku Province, just over three months ago, looking for work through an employment agency. On arrival at Pulo Gadung bus terminal in East Jakarta, she found that the agency had abandoned her and her travel companions.
After days spent stranded in the terminal, a stranger promised her a work as shop attendant in Bogor and took her to the general's house.
Police did not say how Brig. Gen. Mangisi Situmorang was able to afford a household staff of 17, but the early indications were that the maids were not well paid.
"It turned out that we were all hired as maids," Yuliana said. "Aside from being abused, we never received our salaries."
She said that she was required to wake up at 5 a.m. every day and work until 10 p.m, and that if she made a mistake, Mutiara, the general's wife, would hit or scratch her.
Last Friday, she said she informed her cousin Syarif Hidayat of the situation, who came to the house on Monday with neighborhood unit chief Sri Hendardi and took her to the police station.
"We did not want to come to the house directly because we knew that the house was owned by a police general," Syarif said. 'Therefore, I asked the neighborhood unit chief to get into the house."
Although she had no obvious injuries, police had her undergo a medical examination.
"The examination results have not been released," Bahtiar said.
Victor Nadapdap, a spokesman for the general, denied the allegations of abuse and said household staff members were allowed to leave whenever they pleased.
"They could [go out] to buy bakso and bread," he said, as quoted by the state-run Antara News Agency on Thursday. "The bread seller could even get into the house."
Mangisi, who was head of the National Police research division, hired his employees through an agent in Pulo Gadung, according to Victor. The general paid the agent Rp 1 million ($84.74) for each new hire and deducted that sum from the worker's salary.
"Their salaries would be given after a year of working," Victor said. "Before that, they were given pocket money so they could still shop."
Such informal work agreements are legal under Indonesian law, if workers consent to them.
Bogor Police crime division head Adj. Cmr. Candra Sasongko said that Mangisi's staff had complained about work conditions in the past.
In September 2012, around 10 maids from East Nusa Tenggara fled the general's house alleging they were being paid only Rp 10,000 per day. Some of the escapees were minors. They reported the conditions to the Bogor Police. Police did not say what actions were taken at the time.
Sobari, 34, a security officer in the housing complex, said that the house was surrounded by four-meter-tall walls.
The gate was always closed and the general and his wife rarely went out, he said.
"Sometimes the owner and the maids went out early in the morning to clean the yard or take out the rubbish," he said. "Visitors had to shout loud and long before the gate was opened."
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