Image copyright Reuters Image caption Ms Erwiana, now in hospital in Indonesia, said she suffered months of abuse from her employer 
 
 Police in Hong Kong have arrested a woman suspected of torturing her Indonesian maid, in a case which has sparked protests. 
 
 Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, 23, is currently in hospital in Indonesia. She said she suffered months of abuse from the 44-year-old woman in Hong Kong. 
 
 Hong Kong employs at least 300,000 domestic workers, mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines. 
 
 On Sunday, several thousand rallied in the city to demand justice for her. 
 
 Eni Lestari, head of the International Migrants Alliance, said during the protest that they want a speedy investigation into the case. 
 
 The arrest in Hong Kong follows a separate complaint by another maid who had been employed by the same woman, reports said. 
 
 Hong Kong officials left for Indonesia on Monday to interview Ms Erwiana after launching an investigation into her case last week. 
 
 She was reportedly beaten so badly she was in a critical condition and had difficulty walking when she arrived in Indonesia last week. 
 
 A spokesman from the hospital on Java Island told Reuters news agency on Sunday that her injuries were extensive, but that her condition had stabilised. 
 
 Last year, a couple were jailed for repeated attacks on their Indonesian maid, who said that they beat her repeatedly and burnt her with an iron. 
 
 The maid eventually managed to escape and sought refuge at the Indonesian consulate. ||||| Thousands of foreign domestic workers and supporters of the Indonesian maid at the heart of torture allegations rallied yesterday to demand justice for Erwiana Sulistyaningsih and the prosecution of the employer accused of abusing her. 
 
 This came as concerned groups identified two other Indonesian workers who claim they were abused by the same woman who is said to have made Erwiana's life a living hell. 
 
 One of them, Susi, yesterday gave a statement to police about the year of abuse she claims to have endured from 2010 to 2011. 
 
 "There was a time she asked me to commit suicide because I told her I did not want to work there anymore," Susi, 31, alleged to the Post. "I told her she could hit me but she could not ask me to kill myself. I have a son in Indonesia." 
 
 The Justice for Erwiana and All Migrant Domestic Workers Committee said 5,000 people marched from Wan Chai's Southorn Playground to police headquarters and on to the government headquarters in Tamar. Police said 2,100 took part at its peak. 
 
 Video: Hong Kong maids march for better protection 
 
 Speaking after the march, Susi claimed she was paid just HK$5,000 over the year. 
 
 She claimed the housewife did not talk to her husband during the year she worked there and suspected the couple's poor relationship might be why she took her anger out on her. Susi said the woman was always at home, while her husband was usually away on business, and added that the couple have a teenaged son and daughter. 
 
 Justice committee spokeswoman Sringatin claimed one more Indonesian maid had been abused by the woman during the three months she worked with the family in 2011. 
 
 The maid eventually ran away and sought help from her friends and the police. Sringatin said police had still not made any progress in the case. 
 
 "The woman once threatened to kill her with a knife in her hands," Sringatin said. 
 
 The maid in that case now works in Singapore but is said to be willing to give testimony to Hong Kong police. 
 
 Four police officers and two Labour Department officers were due to fly to Indonesia today to meet Erwiana. 
 
 The protesters yesterday called on police to step up their investigation. They also urged the government to abolish a rule that requires helpers to live with their employers, which they said made them vulnerable to abuse. ||||| HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police are investigating allegations that a 23-year-old Indonesian maid was tortured by her employers, the latest case to provoke outrage over abuses suffered by the city's army of foreign domestic workers. 
 
 A group representing Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong said Thursday that Erwiana Sulistyaningsih came to the city in May and suffered beatings until returning last week to Indonesia, where she's being treated in a hospital. 
 
 The family that employed Sulistyaningsih slapped and punched her every day, according to Sringatin, vice-chair of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union. She said the employers let Sulistyaningsih go back to Indonesia when she could no longer work because of her injuries and gave her just 70 Hong Kong dollars ($9). 
 
 Sulistyaningsih needed a friend to help her at the airport because she couldn't walk properly, said Sringatin, who like many Indonesians uses one name. 
 
 The case came to light after pictures of Sulistyaningsih's injuries began circulating among Hong Kong's Indonesian community. The photos, which Sringatin said are genuine, show scabs and lacerations on Sulistyaningsih's face, hands and legs, and blackened skin around her feet. 
 
 Sulistyaningsih's employers were very strict and demanding, permitting her to sleep only four hours a day and insisting that she do the cleaning in a particular order, Sringatin said. 
 
 "But if Erwiana cleaned the toilet before cleaning the bedroom, the employer would beat her," Sringatin said. "When the employer called Erwiana and she didn't hear, the employer would also assault her." 
 
 Migrant worker groups in Hong Kong held two protests this week, including one on Thursday, to bring attention to the case and highlight what they called "modern day slavery." 
 
 In response to an inquiry about the case, police issued a statement saying they were investigating the allegations after receiving a complaint from a maid placement agency about abuse by an employer, without releasing any names. 
 
 Hong Kong's Labor Department said it has been in contact with the Indonesian consulate general in the city, the employment agency and domestic helper groups in relation to the case. 
 
 Indonesian Consulate spokesman Sam Aryadi said Sulistyaningsih was undergoing physical and psychological examinations in Indonesia, and that she may return to Hong Kong to help with the investigation. 
 
 There are about 312,000 foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, with Indonesians accounting for about half and Filipinos making up most of the rest. Most are young women. 
 
 Last year, a couple was sent to prison for torturing their Indonesian maid with a hot iron, a paper cutter and a bicycle chain. 
 
 A report in November by Amnesty International slammed the Hong Kong and Indonesian governments for allowing conditions that left women working as maids vulnerable to widespread abuse and exploitation, including restrictions on freedom of movement, physical and sexual violence, lack of food and long working hours. ||||| HONG KONG: Hong Kong police on Monday arrested a woman who allegedly severely injured her Indonesian domestic helper, a day after thousands staged a march in protest at her treatment. 
 
 A police spokeswoman said a 44-year-old woman was arrested at the city's airport on a charge of wounding, but declined to give further details. 
 
 Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, 22, was reportedly abused over a period of eight months while employed by the woman. 
 
 Media reports said she was unable to walk due to her injuries when she flew home from the southern Chinese city this month. 
 
 Police investigators on Monday travelled to Indonesia to interview Sulistyaningsih, who is being treated at a hospital in Sragen on Java island. 
 
 Claims that she had been tortured by her employer sparked an outcry by domestic helpers and others and renewed concern about the treatment of maids in Hong Kong. 
 
 Several thousand domestic helpers and rights activists staged a protest on Sunday, calling for a speedy investigation of the case and better protection for maids. 
 
 Local groups representing domestic helpers have claimed that two other helpers were also abused by the same employer. 
 
 One of them complained to police Sunday about her treatment. 
 
 Hong Kong employs nearly 300,000 domestic helpers, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines. 
 
 In an earlier case a Hong Kong couple was jailed in September for attacks on their Indonesian domestic helper which included burning her with an iron and beatings with a bicycle chain. 
 
 Amnesty International in November condemned the "slavery-like" conditions faced by thousands of Indonesian domestic helpers in Hong Kong and accused authorities of "inexcusable" inaction. 
 
 It said Indonesians were exploited by recruitment and placement agencies who seize their documents and charge them excessive fees, with false promises of high salaries and good working conditions. 
 
 The government stipulates a minimum wage and other conditions for foreign domestic helpers, but unscrupulous employers and agencies sometimes ignore this. 
 
 
 

– Hong Kong police today arrested a woman accused of torturing her Indonesian maid, a day after thousands rallied in protest of the maid's treatment. Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, 23, returned to Indonesia last week, reportedly unable to walk thanks to her injuries. She's now being treated at a hospital there, according to the AP. Images circulating among Hong Kong's Indonesian community show her with scabs and lacerations on her face, hands, and legs, and blackened skin around her feet. Hong Kong police today arrested her employer, a 44-year-old woman, at the city's airport, the AFP reports. Officials also traveled today to Indonesia to interview Sulistyaningsih, the BBC reports. Advocacy groups say that 5,000 people attended a march yesterday demanding justice for Sulistyaningsih, even as the groups identified two more workers allegedly abused by the same woman. "There was a time she asked me to commit suicide because I told her I did not want to work there anymore," one woman tells the South China Morning Post. She says she was paid roughly $645 for a year's work. Another woman said the employer had threatened to kill her while brandishing a knife.