KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Indonesian maid Siti Hajar Sadli's former employer, Hau Yuan Tyng, was charged at the Sessions Court yesterday with scalding her with hot water and hurting her with a hammer and a pair of scissors.

Hau, 43, was charged with:

- Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Siti Hajar by scalding her with hot water between 11am and 9pm on June 7

- Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by using a hammer which can cause death some time in February this year

- Hurting Siti Hajar using a pair of scissors on June 7

The three offences were allegedly committed at a condominium flat in Mont Kiara here.

Dressed in a white blouse, apple green jacket and blue jeans, Hau looked worried and, at times, was seen wiping her tears.

She tried to avoid the stares of those present in court by keeping her head bowed most of the time.

Hau, a part-time employee of a maid agency, kept turning back to look at her brother, Wan Hock, 52, who was in court to bail her out.

Deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt proposed RM10,000 bail on each of the first and second charges and RM5,000 on the third charge.

Hau's counsel M. Manoharan pleaded for the amount to be reduced and said that she was a single parent with two young children to care for.

He said Hau had a daughter aged 13 years old and an autistic son aged 11 years old who was currently being taken care of by a church member.

"A high bail will deprive the young boy of his mother's care," he said, proposing a sum of RM7,000 for all the charges.

The complainant was Rizkiana Gita Leona, an officer of the Indonesian embassy.

Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah set bail at RM15,000 in one surety and ordered Hau to surrender her passport to the court.

She also ordered the accused to report to the Mont Kiara police station on the first of every month. Komathy fixed July 22 for case management.

Also present in court was counsel Cha Kian An, who holds a watching brief for the embassy.

Later in the afternoon, Hau, who is also a former real estate agent, was taken to the magistrate's court to face a charge under the Immigration Act.

She claimed trial to employing Siti Hajar as a maid when she did not have a work permit between July 2 last year and June 7 this year.

Prosecuting officer Chief Inspector D.R. Ghanthi Nathan proposed RM8,000 bail.

Magistrate Suhaily Samsudin granted RM4,000 bail in one surety and fixed July 22 for mention. Hau posted bail.

Siti Hajar was reported to have escaped from her employer's house on the morning of June 8 and hid in some bushes until sunrise when she stopped a passing taxi.

Without a sen on her, she begged the taxi driver to take her to the Indonesian embassy. Seeing the state she was in, the man took pity on her her and drove her to the embassy.