Filipina maid suspect in Hong Kong boss's murder

Oh dear ... and just as the number of Indonesians employed as domestic helpers in HK overtakes that of Filipinas ....

Frankly, the way some local employers treat (correction: MIS-treat) their helpers I'm surprised it doesn't happen on a regular basis!

Filipina maid suspect in Hong Kong boss's murder

A Filipina maid was Thursday arrested on suspicion of murdering her Hong Kong employer, police said.

The 47-year-old female victim was found by police lying dead in the lounge of her flat with multiple cut wounds, a police statement said. A knife was found next to her.

Local broadcaster RTHK said the victim was a civil servant who worked as an engineering project manager.

Police were alerted at 4:50 am (2050 GMT) by neighbours in the Happy Valley district who had heard a woman yelling for help, assistant police commander Gareth Williams said.

Neighbours "heard some shouting coming from the flat on the 12th floor," he told RTHK.

"(Police) saw some bloodstains on the door, so they broke open the door. When they entered they found the body of the deceased lying on the floor in the lounge, with multiple serious injuries all over the body," he said.

The maid, aged 35, was found in the bedroom and was arrested by police, the statement said. She had also suffered injuries, although she was conscious, and was treated in hospital.

A post-mortem examination was expected to be conducted later Thursday to ascertain the cause of the woman's death, the statement said.

More than 100,000 Filipinos work in the southern Chinese city of Hong Kong, mostly as low-paid domestic workers. It is not uncommon for Hong Kong families to have a live-in maid, who will do most of the cooking and look after the family's children.

Relationships between maids and employers can sometimes be strained, with campaigners saying many are underpaid and have to live in poor accommodation, although violence is rare.

Someone told me that the maid appeared to believe the employer was possessed by an evil demon or something along those lines ... HK employers take note: hallucinations are a common side effect of sleep deprivation!