NST Online, 2008/07/02Hii Ik Tiing (right) in discussions with lawyer Akbardin Abdul Kader before the trial yesterday.
KUALA LUMPUR: "It's a lie, I know my wife. She did not do it." This was the reply of Hii Ik Tiing, the husband of Yim Pek Ha, who is accused of abusing their Indonesian maid.
Counsel Akbardin Abdul Kader had asked Hii during examination-in-chief at the Sessions Court yesterday for his response to the allegations made by Nirmala Bonat, who alleged that Yim had assaulted her with a hot iron in January 2004.
"If at all my wife did it, the maid would have told me about it. After all, she did tell me when my son nearly fell off a chair in the living room," said Hii, 42.
The businessman also told the court that he was often at home as his office was based in their four-room apartment in Jalan Tun Ismail.
"If there were screams or yelling in the house, I would be able to hear it from my office."
Hii said he had never heard his maid scream or seen her cry.
"But I have heard her crying after being scolded by my wife."
Yim, 40, a housewife, is charged with scorching Nirmala with a hot iron and scalding her with hot water at her Villa Putra condominium in Jalan Tun Ismail here in January, March and April 2004 and hitting her with a metal cup on May 17, 2004.
In describing his wife of 13 years, the father of four said Yim was a friendly person who had many friends.
"She is polite and can talk to anyone. Everyone liked her."
He said although they quarrelled occasionally, they would soon make up.
"My wife will be the one who makes the first move to settle the matter. She forgives and forgets easily compared with me."
Asked by Akbardin what attracted him to her, Hii said: "My first impression was her appearance. She was pleasant looking, friendly, caring and polite."
He also told the court that as a mother, Yim loved their children very much. "The children are her everything."
The court also heard that Nirmala was lazy, had the tendency to tell lies while working for the Hii family and had twice walked out of the apartment after being scolded.
Earlier, judge Akhtar Tahir allowed the defence's application to use Fermina Anunut's statement as evidence in court.
Fermina, 21, is Nirmala's cousin who claimed to have known about Nirmala's health condition.
He said while the prosecution had not wilfully sent Fermina away, the defence had also taken adequate measures to search for Fermina.
"Evidence shows that Fermina's employment contract was terminated. At that time, the defence did not think she would not be coming back."
Looking at the circumstances of the case, Akhtar said it was not a reasonable move to have Fermina detained in Malaysia, as this would mean that she would need to be detained for a number of days or even years.
Following his decision, Fermina's statement was read out in court by the recording officer ASP Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit had met Fermina at her employer's shop in Ipoh on May 24, 2005 to record her statement.
In her statement, Fermina said she had known Nirmala by the name of Anima Rapatula from the time she was 2.
She claimed that Nirmala suffered from epilepsy and had the tendency to hurt herself when scolded.
She also claimed that Nirmala was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, Hospital Puekesmas in Kupang, when she was young.
Hearing continues.
