2 charged with Indonesian maid's murder in

Malaysia
The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Thu, 02/04/2010 9:45 AM | World

A Malaysian court has charged a woman and her son with killing their
Indonesian housemaid, a judge said Thursday, in the country's latest case of
alleged abuse against foreign workers.

Canteen operator K. Letchmy, 55, and university student K. Kannan, 26, did
not enter pleas when they were charged with murder Wednesday in a
magistrate court in southern Malacca state, Judge Muhamad Faizal Ismail
said. If found guilty, they could face death by hanging.

Nurul Aida M. Nur, 31, died at their ho on Jan. 21. The Star newspaper
reported that an autopsy showed she died of injuries caused by a blunt
object.

Muhamad Faizal said the case would be heard April 6 in a High Court
because of the seriousness of the charge.

Some 230,000 Indonesian maids work in Malaysia. Each year hundreds

complain of mistreatment, such as unpaid salaries, overwork and in some
cases physical abuse, straining ties between the neighbors.

A sugar cane juice seller is now on trial on charges of murdering his

Indonesian maid, who died after being found beaten and locked in a
bathroom.