
Helper wins case against Hong Kong employer who repeatedly asked her for sex
A domestic helper has won a HK$180,000 sexual harassment claim against her former Hong Kong employer, a single man who repeatedly asked her for sex despite her refusals.
The District Court on Friday ruled that Lam Yui-sang, 63, had created a 'hostile and threatening' workplace for Indonesian helper Sri Wahyuni, who started her employment with him on February 17, 2022. Wahyuni said her boss began to demand sex and ask her to have his child just a few days after starting.
Wahyuni stayed alone in the two-bedroom flat in Kwai Chung with Lam for 17 days and quit fearing for her personal safety. She made a report to police in April 2022 but the complaint was dismissed as she was told there was a lack of evidence.
She began to make audio recordings of Lam's harassment after he sniffed her hair multiple times as she walked out of the bathroom.
Lam, who initially admitted that it was his voice in the recordings, said to her: 'Who says domestic helpers were not up for sex service?'
He also told her: 'You should have expected to have sex with me as you came to work for me.'
Wahyuni said he had also threatened to send her back to her home country if she did not comply with his requests.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTHK
2 days ago
- RTHK
Scam suspects spent HK$18m on sim cards: police
Scam suspects spent HK$18m on sim cards: police The police launched a joint operation with Singapore to target cross-border scams and money laundering. File photo: RTHK Police on Sunday said they had arrested four men suspected of spending HK$18 million on sim cards in order to carry out scams. Officers in Singapore also took part in what was a joint operation targeting cross-border scams and money laundering, with another four people arrested there. Two of the four detained in Hong Kong have been charged with conspiracy to defraud and are due to appear before a magistrate on Monday, while the other two are still under investigation. Chief Inspector Fan Wai-ho said at a press conference that the massive haul of sim cards was sent to Southeast Asia for criminals to make scam calls with. Fan said they believe the scams raked in HK$120 million between 2023 and early this year. 'During the police investigation, we found modem-pool devices were used as remote information centres which can disguise incoming calls from overseas as local calls. The calls would then be transferred to local victims for scamming activities,' he said. 'The police have contacted two local people who had received suspicious calls from scammers pretending to be officials and customer service staff. But fortunately, they were cautious and communicated with their families, so they did not suffer any loss.'


HKFP
5 days ago
- HKFP
4 Hong Kong activists fined up to HK$6,600 for fundraising and displaying posters without permit
Four Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been fined up to HK$6,600 after being found guilty of raising funds and displaying posters in public without a permit in 2023. League of Social Democrats (LSD)'s chairperson Chan Po-ying, the group's vice-chairs Dickson Chau and Yu Wai-pan, and activist Lee Ying-chi were convicted on Thursday at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts. They were found guilty of 12 counts of collecting money in a public place without a permit and displaying bills or posters on government land without permission. Before the judge delivered the verdict, the four activists unfurled a banner outside the courthouse accusing authorities of 'suppressing freedom of expression.' The offences were linked to street booths the LSD set up on April 2, April 30, and May 28, 2023, in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai. According to the prosecution, they displayed a blank black cloth and handed out leaflets with QR codes for the party's donation link and its PayMe profile. During the trial earlier this year, the defendants challenged whether the black cloth should be considered a poster and therefore regulated under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. Magistrate Minnie Wat ruled on Thursday that the black cloth, approximately two metres long, had been displayed in an 'eye-catching spot' at the street booth. Referring to footage recorded by the police, Wat said the defendants had told the public that they hung a blank black cloth because they could be fined if any words were written on the banner. Wat sided with the prosecution, saying that the definition of a poster was 'broad' and that the purpose of the legislation was to impose 'appropriate rules to prevent chaos.' As the black cloth was used to 'spread ideas in public' and was displayed for around two hours each time at the street booths, it met the definition of a poster, she said. 'Although the black cloth had no words, it was displayed to express the defendants' political views and opinions about the government,' the magistrate said in Cantonese. Wat also rejected the defendants' argument that there was no evidence they were raising funds at the street booths. She said the court should not focus solely on whether the word 'fundraising' appeared on the leaflets. Even if the QR code was small, that did not mean the defendants were not soliciting donations. 'They could have removed the QR code and their bank account number if they had no intention of raising funds,' Wat said. During the trial, the defendants questioned why the police only filmed their street booths without taking any action. Wat responded that the legislation does not require police to issue a warning before enforcement. She added that the absence of a warning did not mean the acts were not in breach of the law. Chau, who represented himself, said during the trial that the QR code in fact did not work. At the time, the party's HSBC bank account had already been frozen, he said. Wat eventually convicted the four activists on all 12 charges and fined them between HK$1,000 and HK$1,200 per summons. Chan, who had six summonses, received a total fine of HK$6,600, while Chau, with two summonses, was fined HK$2,000. Lee had three summonses and was fined HK$3,000, and Yu was ordered to pay HK$1,000 for one summons. During mitigation, Chau said the LSD was the last activist group still organising street booths to voice their opinions. In response to the magistrate's remark that the legislation aimed to prevent people from 'fighting for space' to hold street demonstrations, Chau said the magistrate's 'aspiration' was 'far from reality.' 'We only want more people in society to express their views to the government. Unfortunately, the government's response is prosecution,' he said in Cantonese, adding that he had been an activist for over a decade and had not previously been prosecuted for carrying out similar acts. Yu, on the other hand, called the case 'political prosecution' and accused the authorities of 'weaponising' laws to suppress civic rights. 'Even if it is not the national security law but just summons, it is eroding our freedoms step by step, until we can no longer even organise a street booth,' he said in Cantonese. Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Chan said she believed they were innocent but was 'not surprised' by the court's ruling. She said the legislation concerning poster displays used to target banners or posters affixed to street barricades by politicians or political groups, rather than those displayed during a demonstration. She added the legislation contained many 'loopholes' and that their street booth should be regarded as a political activity held sporadically, and therefore should not be subject to regulation.


HKFP
5 days ago
- HKFP
Hong Kong Federation of Students refutes rumours of dissolution, says ‘unknown parties' impersonated group
The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) has refuted rumours of dissolution after local media outlets reported its disbandment, citing a statement issued by 'an emergency general meeting' of the student group. Isaac Lai, the vice president of Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU) and the chief representative of the HKFS, said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening that 'some unknown parties' had impersonated the student group to announce that it would be dissolved. 'The HKFS is composed of student unions from higher education institutions in Hong Kong. We have not received any requests for dissolution from any student union member,' Lai said in a Chinese-language statement. 'We hereby clarify that there is no dissolution.' Lai said that, according to the HKFS constitution, dissolution of the organisation must be approved by its executive committee and supported by at least three-quarters of the representatives in the general assembly to become effective. HK01 reported on Wednesday evening that the HKFS would be 'dissolved immediately,' citing a statement sent on behalf of the student group to some local outlets via email. The purported statement said Lai and fellow federation member Charles Ng were suspected of transferring all funds from bank accounts under the HKFS without approval after the duo applied to the police in September 2023 to name themselves as the responsible persons for the student group and altered the signature information for all its bank accounts. It also said that, considering that Lai and Ng were among the four current and former LUSU members arrested earlier in June, the student group decided to dissolve, and its assets would be donated to the Community Chest. Police said the four were arrested on suspicion of stealing HK$1.3 million from the LUSU's funds for personal expenses. HK01 reported in November that a self-proclaimed Lingnan University student accused LUSU members of embezzlement in a mass email to the school. Lai denied the accusation at that time. Ongoing dispute Rumours of dissolution came amid an ongoing dispute between HKFS representatives and some pro-Beijing figures claiming to represent the HKFS Fund, a limited company related to the student group. The HKFS, established in 1958, is a registered society under the Police Licensing Office. In 2015, the federation explained the origins of the H.K.F.S. Fund, saying it was established after the sale of Hong Kong Student Travel Ltd by Hong Kong Student Travel Bureau Ltd in 1993. The travel bureau earned HK$23 million from that sale, HK$5 million of which was injected into the federation, while the remaining HK$18 million was managed by the travel bureau and later renamed the H.K.F.S. Fund Ltd. In November 2023, HKFS representatives filed a police report after suspecting a group of unknown men had tried to forcefully enter two of its properties. Prior to the alleged forced entry, the HKFS accused pro-establishment lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, a director at the H.K.F.S. Fund, and other directors of 'forcibly seizing control of the company' by launching legal proceedings against several former executives of the student group and requesting them to move out of the two units. Lawyer Paul Tse, who helped launch the legal proceedings against the HKFS, told Ming Pao that the lawsuit had been filed because there was evidence showing the premises in question had been 'misused' for activities that violated the national security law. In the Wednesday statement, Lai said that Ma and Simon Hau, a pro-Beijing businessman and secretary of the H.K.F.S. Fund, had 'legally occupied' two properties belonging to the student group. On Thursday, Lai went to the HKFS headquarters in Waitex House, Mong Kok, which has been occupied by pro-Beijing figures since 2023. He still could not enter because the office lock had been changed. The acrylic signboard outside the office had also been removed. Three metal signboards are now placed outside the entrance door: one with the HKFS name, and the other two reading 'Stability of Hong Kong' and 'Realisation of Chinese Dream.' According to the statement, Lai and other HKFS representatives filed a lawsuit in March at the High Court against Ma and Hau, demanding that the two immediately return the properties. The legal proceedings are still ongoing, it said.