INDONESIA APPRECIATES MALAYSIA'S FIRM HANDLING OF MAID'S DEATH CASE

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

JAKARTA, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Indonesian authorities have expressed appreciation for the Malaysian government's firm handling of the case involving the death of an Indonesian maid following alleged physical abuse by her employer.

Dino Patti Djalal, spokesman for the Indonesian president, said Indonesia
also appreciated the issuing of a statement by the Malaysian government that
Malaysians and anyone on Malaysian soil had the right to protection.

"They (Indonesian nationals) should be protected, regardless of whether they
are legal or illegal (migrants)," he said in a statement.

The maid, Mantik Hani, 36, died at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in
Klang, some 32km west of Kuala Lumpur on Monday after she was admitted there on
Oct 20. Police have arrested her employer couple.

Dino said he had learned that the Malaysian government had put the deputy
inspector-general of police in charge of the investigation into the case and
expressed the hope that the offenders would be prosecuted soon.

He also welcomed a proposal by Malaysia to set up a special
inter-ministerial unit to find the best way to handle cases of maid abuse in the
country.

Dino had contacted the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta Thursday to express the
Indonesian authorities' condemnation over Mantik's death.
-- BERNAMA