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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Four people have been arrested in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor after videos circulating online appeared to show an Indonesian domestic worker being slapped, punched and verbally abused inside a private home.
The footage has renewed concerns about the treatment of Indonesian helpers in Malaysia – where about 60,000 are registered to work in private homes – and prompted calls for Jakarta to intervene.
Two sisters and their husbands, aged 30 to 34, were arrested at a house in Taman Johor, near Tampoi in Johor Bahru, at around 7.30pm on Saturday, Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad confirmed.
In the footage, which police said was recorded on July 26 last year, a woman and a man can be seen repeatedly hitting the female worker while others berate her.

Social media posts claimed the worker had been accused of injuring her employer’s child. This Week in Asia could not independently verify this claim.
“The victim, an Indonesian domestic worker, is believed to have run away and police are actively tracing her,” Ab Rahaman told a press conference on Sunday.
“Two other women who worked as domestic helpers for the suspects and are also believed to have been victims of abuse have been located to assist investigations.”
All three workers are aged in their twenties and believed to still be in Malaysia.
Officers seized mobile phones, clothing, a CCTV camera and two passports belonging to foreign women connected to the household, Ab Rahaman said.
The suspects, who had no prior criminal records, were remanded for one day as police examined possible charges of voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and passport violations.
Clips from the assault were shared widely on Indonesian and Malaysian social media, drawing outrage from public figures and ordinary users alike.
Influential rock musician Dhani Ahmad, a member of parliament for Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party since 2024, shared the clip on Sunday with a direct appeal to the Indonesian president.
Mr President, please arrest them and bring them to Indonesia. Let us put them on trial here
Dhani Ahmad, Indonesian politician
“Mr President, please arrest them and bring them to Indonesia. Let us put them on trial here,” he wrote.
Comments on this and other posts reflected the anger felt on both sides of the border.
Indonesian social media user Pak Tua called on Prabowo, Indonesia’s police chief and the head of the armed forces to “immediately take action”, while fellow Indonesian Reni Septiani wrote: “Mr Prabowo, please look at this.”
Malaysian user Syamrin Bahsan said he was “deeply ashamed” and urged Malaysian police and the Indonesian embassy to act quickly.

The case has revived memories of Adelina Lisao, an Indonesian domestic worker who died in a Penang hospital in February 2018 after suffering prolonged abuse. Her employer, S. Ambika, was acquitted of murder in 2019 – a verdict Malaysia’s Federal Court upheld in June 2022.
A subsequent civil suit saw the Penang High Court order Ambika and her daughter, R. Jayavartiny, to pay Adelina’s family 750,000 ringgit (US$185,000) in February 2024, but the Court of Appeal set aside the award in September last year, ordering a full trial on the grounds that disputed facts could not be decided solely on affidavit evidence alone.
Adelina reportedly suffered horrific abuse, including being forced to sleep outside on a porch with a Rottweiler that repeatedly bit her.


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Four suspects were detained in Johor as an Indonesian MP urged President Prabowo to intervene over the abuse in a private home


Four suspects were detained in Johor as an Indonesian MP urged President Prabowo to intervene over the abuse in a private home.


Crime

Indonesia

Prabowo Subianto

Viral video of Indonesian helper being beaten in Malaysia prompts calls to act

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Four suspects were detained in Johor as an Indonesian MP urged President Prabowo to intervene over the abuse in a private home

Four suspects were detained in Johor as an Indonesian MP urged President Prabowo to intervene over the abuse in a private home