ANOTHER two cases of maid abuse have surfaced in Malaysia.

Their employers had been abusing them for two years.

One employer's misdeeds were exposed by her son who recorded her abusing the maid and handed the recording to the police.

The second case involved a pregnant woman who caned, punched and told her maid to wash herself with bleach.

The cases come at a sensitive time when tensions between the two countries are strained due to rising cases of maid abuse by Malaysia.

In the first case, a recording made on the handphone has now become a crucial evidence of abuse, said police.

A 45-year-old, who has been beating her maid for 1-1/2 years, was caught unawares when her son, 17, surrendered his handphone with the recording to police.

The recorded video showed his mother beating the maid, reported GuangMing Daily.

His clip was discovered only by chance - after police acted on a tip-off by the Indonesian embassy, and swooped in on her house in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday to arrest her.

Ampang Jaya police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan said: "When officers arrived at the residence, they found that the maid had many injuries and bruises, and took her to hospital for a medical examination."

He added that after she was arrested, her teenage son handed over his handphone to the officers voluntarily.

Police will continue their investigations after the maid's medical report is released.

But the other maid, Ms Modesta Rangga Kaka, 25, was not so lucky.

She has nearly RM10,000 ($4,100) in wages owed to her and her claims of abuse ranged from being fed once a day, caned, punched and being told to bathe with bleach to cleanse her of "kuman" (Malay for germs) that her employer accused her of harbouring, said Malay Mail.

Yell for help

Neighbours alerted the police when the maid was heard yelling for help on 25 Jun, after being locked in the house for not doing the laundry.

So on Tuesday, her employer, who is seven-months pregnant with a third child, was charged with hurting Ms Modesta with a cane, that could have led to severe injuries.

Housewife Choo Pei Ling, 37, was released on a RM3,500 bail and had her passport retained.

Defence counsel R Arumugam had argued for a lower bail, saying that Choo had separated from her husband six months ago and moved into her parents' house.

He said Choo only earned RM800 by selling medical products from home.

Despite this, the Indonesian Embassy plans to meet Choo to settle the non-payment of Ms Modesta's wages.

An embassy spokesman told Malay Mail that Ms Modesta had not seen a single cent of her RM500 a month salary since starting work in November 2007.

Choo reportedly owes RM9,500.

Both maids are being cared for at the Indonesian embassy's shelter for maids.

A spokesman for the embassy said the number of maids at the shelter is now 191.

On 12 Jun, Malay Mail reported that some 162 maids were being housed at the shelter, built for 75, at the Indonesian Embassy in JalanTun Razak.