The cousin of a Filipino woman who stripped to her panties in an apparent mental breakdown at a Hong Kong MTR station last month has said the domestic helper was overworked and fatigued. Purita P contacted the Sun-HK after photos and videos of Liza L shouting incoherently in her underwear at Mong Kok MTR station began circulating on the internet.
Purita said Liza was overworked after agreeing with her employer to have just one day off a month, adding that her 49-year-old cousin was charged with looking after a couple, their two teenage sons, two dogs and a parrot.
Kris Furaque, of the Hong Kong Consulate’s welfare office, said Liza’s employer started noticing her strange behaviour a few days before the incident. They reported how the religious woman hadn’t slept in several days, sprinkled them with “holy water” and was talking about how she would save the family from the devil.
On agreeing to terminate Liza’s contract as she was moving on to a new job, the Kwun Tong-based family took her to her agency on July 22, where she was given her unpaid salary and other benefits. Liza however left the next day saying she was going to stay with a friend, straight after which she had her apparent breakdown.
Although Purita insisted that Liza had no real problems with her employer, she says her cousin had complained about her workload and the way she was treated by the family’s two children. She told Purita she would however “suck it up” until her release date.
Liza had apparently had run-ins with Hong Kong employers before, reportedly being sacked mid-contract by a family she worked with for six years because she turned down an offer for later renewal. The Sun-HK ventures that Liza’s determination to keep her latest role at any cost may have led to her breakdown.
The plight of domestic workers in Hong Kong was brought to the forefront of collective consciousness earlier this year with the story of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, an Indonesian maid allegedly tortured by her Hong Kong employer. Watch this Coconuts TV feature with first-hand accounts of more shocking abuse.
Liza is currently recovering in a Kowloon hospital. Get well soon!
Photo: Screenshot Apple Daily video
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