Indian maid found hanging in Malaysian state

Kuala Lumpur: An Indian maid was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her employer's house in Malaysia, the second case of sudden death involving an Indian worker in the northeast Georgetown district this year.

The body was discovered at 11 pm last night by a neighbour who was asked to check on the maid by the employer, who was away travelling to Kuala Lumpur.

The incident was reported in the Georgetown district of Penang state.

The woman, who was in her 40s, was yet to be identified as her document was believed to have been kept by her employer, police chief Gan Kong Meng said today, Star online reported.

The body was discovered at 11 pm last night by a neighbour who was asked by the employer to check on the maid.

Police did not suspect foul play and have classified the case as sudden death, he said, adding that the body was sent to the Penang Hospital.

Gan added this was the second case of sudden death involving Indian maids reported in the northeast district so far this year, state-owned Bernama news agency said.

In May, a 25-year-old Indian maid from Punjab was found dead with 90 per cent burns on her body in Malaysia's Penang state in what appeared to be a suicide case.

Malaysia, a country of 28 million people with a mix of three races including eight per cent ethnic Indians, relies heavily on foreign workers and maids.

Though the reason for last night's death has not yet been announced by police, in the past there have been several cases of maid abuse.

Indonesia, a major source for maids in his country, banned its women from going to Malaysia three years ago to work as maids after cases of maid abuse surfaced.

Though the ban has been removed this year, large batches of maids are still to arrive here.

There have been hundreds of cases of Indian male workers being abused, and not paid their wages over the years.

The High Commission of India regularly advises workers to check the background of job recruitment agents and employers before pawning their belongings and rushing to Malaysia for a dream high paid job only to wake up to reality of low wages and sometimes ill treatment by the employers.

A few years ago, a young worker, Ganesh, from Tamil Nadu died after being inhumanly treated by his employers who used to chain him and not give him food.