Ex-civil servant faced hostility way before conviction for assault on maid

There is definitely no place like home for former civil servant Au Wai-chun, who would get the cold shoulder from previously friendly neighbours and security guards whenever she returned to her Tseung Kwan O flat.

The hostility was immediate, starting the day after her arrest on October 1 for pouring hot water on her Bangladeshi domestic helper and way before her conviction on September 1.

"I could clearly see all these people, including the guards, turning their faces away and no longer wanting to talk to me," Au recalled of a trip back to Bauhinia Garden to pick up some clothes.

The nearly year-long legal battle has left her mentally exhausted, and with a criminal record.

The 62-year-old refuses to accept the conviction for occasioning actual bodily harm on Begum Raksona. The judge had no doubts - he yesterday sentenced her to six months in jail, suspended for 18 months. Au, however, is studying the possibility of an appeal.

Au, who tells how degenerative bone conditions cause her intense pain to her limbs, neck and back, insists Raksona was the one who had splashed hot water on herself in an attempt to seek compensation.

"At first, I was very confused. I didn't know what happened," an emotional Au told the South China Morning Post.