Post reporter Phila Siu gets Hong Kong award for coverage of abused helper's family

A South China Morning Post reporter has received the Chinese University Journalism Award for his coverage of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih's family and how her plight has affected Indonesia's policy of exporting domestic workers.

News reporter Phila Siu last night received a certificate of merit in the biannual award's feature or commentary group for newspapers and magazines.

READ MORE: Erwiana: Indonesian domestic helper who became campaigner against abuse in Hong Kong

Erwiana became a global media sensation in January last year, when a fellow Indonesian who chanced upon her at Hong Kong's airport noticed her bruised appearance and reported it to police. Her then employer, Law Wan-tung, 44, was subsequently arrested, while Erwiana spent nearly a month in an Indonesian hospital.

The District Court was told how Law had twisted a metal tub from a vacuum cleaner inside her mouth, punched her incisors so hard that they fractured, and splashed her with cold water while pointing a fan at her.

Law was sentenced in February to six years in prison and fined HK$15,000 after being convicted of 18 out of 20 charges relating to assault and criminal intimidation.