Filipino domestic helper made up claims of indecent assault against employer because she needed reason to leave without being fired, defence says

A Hong Kong man on trial for indecently assaulting a Filipino domestic helper on five occasions in six days has accused his former employee of fabricating the case.

Defence counsel for clerk Lau Sui-wo, 45, on Wednesday said the 43-year-old helper, identified as X, was determined to frame Lau because he had scolded her over poor work and she needed a good reason to leave, having been fired from her previous job.

The helper maintained: “I did not fabricate anything.”

Lau has pleaded not guilty to five counts of indecent assault.

On Wednesday, prosecutors added an additional count of indecent assault, to which Lau also pleaded not guilty, after hearing X’s testimony on the first day of trial.

X told Kowloon City Court Lau had exposed himself, masturbated in front of her, touched her breasts, grabbed her buttocks and rubbed himself against her in a series of assaults at her workplace from July 31 to August 5 last year.

Defence counsel Olivia Tsang observed that account was different from what X had told the church that reported the case to the Immigration Department, which later referred the case to police.

Tsang pointed out X had given conflicting details on the time and specifics of each alleged assault when she recorded her statements on August 14 and 24 last year.

Those accounts were also different from what X told the court, Tsang said.

X had first told police the assaults took place between August 7 and 12. She also did not claim Lau had masturbated in front of her when she spoke to the church and police.

When asked why she had reported the details so casually to police, X replied: “At the time I could not think clearly because I was traumatised.”

Later she added: “I was confused, so many questions.”

Tsang questioned why X did not immediately report her case to police.

“Because I was afraid of losing my job,” X replied through an interpreter.

Tsang countered that X knew Lau and his wife had twice complained to the employment agency about her performance, because she had burned an alarm clock and a mattress while ironing and forgotten to turn off a dehumidifier.

“You were angry at Mr and Mrs Lau,” Tsang said.

“So when you went to the pastor’s wife to complain about Mr Lau, you were determined to fabricate these allegations … because you need a good reason to leave your current position.”

X disagreed, adding: “I work very well.”

The court heard X was fired from her previous job after 11 months, before she started working for the Lau family in February last year.

The trial continues before Magistrate Raymond Wong Kwok-fai on April 25.