Indonesian maid’s injuries ‘may have been self-inflicted’
Lawyer also suggests sadomasochism, not employers, may be cause of scars, but doctor says they were most likely caused by others
An Indonesian maid who says she was subjected to horrendous abuse by her employers could have caused the injuries herself, a court was told yesterday.
But Dr Poon Wai-ming told the District Court the scars he had found on Kartika's body were most likely inflicted by others.
Poon said the scars on the maid's upper back were in a horizontal pattern and therefore unlikely to be self-inflicted. He also found there were old and new scars, some perhaps six months old and others just a week old.
The doctor said multiple linear scars on Kartika's legs and wrists indicated she had been bound with cable.
"People with self-destructive tendencies usually use knives to cut themselves in certain areas such as the wrists or on the neck or abdomen. They seldom inflict injuries over the whole body," Poon said.