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Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong
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The employer was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital. Photo: Dickson Lee

Domestic helper arrested in Hong Kong after boss suspects detergent added to her drink

Employer, 42, sent to Tuen Mun Hospital after complaining to police of feeling unwell

A 26-year-old domestic helper in Hong Kong was arrested on Sunday after her employer reported to police that she suspected the worker had put detergent into her drink.

The employer, 42, contacted police at around 1am on Sunday. Officers arrived at her Tuen Mun home in the upmarket Beaulieu Peninsula residential estate soon after.

The helper was arrested on suspicion of administering poison with intent to injure.

The employer told police she felt sick and was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital.

The Tuen Mun criminal investigation division is following up on the case.

In a separate incident earlier this month, police arrested a domestic helper, 39, on suspicion of ill-treating a six-month-old girl after she was accused of putting bleach into a bottle of baby bath solution.

Domestic helper walks free after prosecutors drop ‘urine in water’ case

The child’s 35-year-old mother became suspicious when she felt a minor burn on her hand while preparing a bath for the infant at their home in Fo Tan.

In another case, a 24-year-old helper who spent three months in jail waiting to stand trial after having been accused by her employer of lacing their drinking water with urine went free this month after prosecutors decided not to press charges.

Lawyers for the Department of Justice told the court in July they could find no trace of urine in a water sample, and the helper was released after being told she would no longer be facing one count of administering poison with intent to injure.

Domestic helpers push for 25 per cent pay rise as recruitment agency charges bite

Hong Kong is home to 380,000 foreign domestic workers, almost 10 per cent of the city’s working population.

Their number is projected to surge to 600,000 in 2047 to meet rising demands because of Hong Kong’s ageing population, labour and welfare minister Dr Law Chi-kwong told the Post last year.

Filipinos make up 54 per cent of helpers, followed by Indonesians at 43 per cent. About 99 per cent of them are women.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Police arrest helper accused of poisoning employer
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