Indonesian domestic helper raped by employer’s son five days into her job, Hong Kong court hears

An Indonesian domestic helper was raped by her employer five days into her job and turned to her agent for help over worries that she might get pregnant, Hong Kong’s High Court heard on Wednesday.

The woman, who was 25 at the time of the incident, recalled how she felt when Fung Hoi-yeung, 27, allegedly forced himself on her in his Tin Shui Wai home on October 21, 2017.

Traces of her blood and the man’s semen were found on a bedsheet, the court heard.

“I was crying. I also felt very sad and fearful,” the helper, referred to as X to protect her identity, said, as she testified on the first day of the man’s trial.

Opening his case, prosecutor Bernard Chung said the attack left abrasions on the woman’s genitals.

Almost immediately after the assault, she sent a text message to a staff member from the agency that arranged her work, pleading for help, Chung said. “I’m afraid I’d be pregnant. What to do?” the helper, who is married, stated in her message.

But Fung, a construction worker, pleaded not guilty to raping the woman in his public housing flat in Tsz Fai House at Tin Tsz Estate.

Fear of rape: I saw my employer touching his private parts, says domestic helper

The court heard X arrived in Hong Kong on October 13, 2017 and began her work at Fung’s home three days later.

While Fung’s mother, who lived next door, was the employer contractually, X would also serve the defendant and stayed in his flat, the court heard. The helper said she would help clean Fung’s home and look after his little daughter.

She said the attack took place in the early hours of October 21 after the accused returned from a late night out with his daughter.

Just before she went to bed that night at 3am, Fung knocked on her room door, she said. “I was wondering who was knocking at such a late hour.”

She opened the door and saw the defendant smiling at her. He said something in Cantonese which she did not understand.

She then went to the toilet and returned to find Fung still outside her room.

The woman said he then pushed her onto her bed and raped her.

“I tried to scream, but I could not. I used my hands to slap his face and pull his hair,” she said, adding that her struggles were in vain. “After he left the room I immediately locked my door.”

Her testimony continues before Mrs Justice Audrey Campbell-Moffat.