Indonesian helper wanted for assault

Judy Cui and Marco Lam

Police are hunting for an Indonesian domestic worker who gagged an elderly woman with a towel and restrained her hands for 30 minutes, after a video of the incident went viral.

The video, which the elderly woman's family uploaded, shows the 57-year-old helper initially pressing the 81-year-old woman's hands against her chest and forcefully pushing her legs after she refused a change of diaper.

The helper is later seen gagging the woman with a towel and binding her hands with a yoga strap in response to her struggles.

The family reported the incident to the police upon discovering the footage recorded on March 17 by a surveillance camera. The helper's employment contract was also immediately terminated by the family upon their discovery.

The victim's daughter said the helper's violent actions resulted in swelling and abrasions to her mother's mouth, in addition to injuries on her right hand. She was taken to Caritas Medical Centre after the incident.

It had been reported that the elderly woman, who is bedridden due to Lymphoma, had recently been discharged after undergoing seven months of treatment.

Police stated that the case has been classified as assault and wounding, and they are currently searching for the domestic helper involved.

In another incident, police were told that a foreign domestic helper working for a North Point household had abused a five-month-old infant, but they found the baby boy unharmed.

Officers later classified the case as a complaint.