The case of abuse of a domestic helper by her employer has been placed on the scales of Justice, which caused disgust when it was revealed after the publication of audiovisual material.
The 31-year-old from the Philippines, seems to have asked for help last May from the Cyprus Home Workers Association, as she was afraid of her employer. He had even claimed that he received physical and verbal violence in January as well. However, the 68-year-old former police officer appeared before the court yesterday, where he denied the charges against him. He was then released on parole, signing a € 5.000 bail, and will appear in court again on September 28, 2020 for the offenses of assault and causing actual bodily harm, threat of use of force, public insult and theft.
For his part, the president of the Cyprus Association of Domestic Workers, Louis Koutroukidis, noted that "since last May, this girl came to the association, expressing complaints against her employer." Then, as he said, he was hosted for three days. He then had a telephone conversation with the accused. "Finally, on May 7, 2020, my girlfriend announced that she would return to the house where she was employed by the accused. I asked her if she was sure of her decision. He replied that he had promised to be kind to her and that he would not bother her. " However, Mr. Koutroukidis explained that at that time they had not made any complaint, since apart from the allegations of the complainant there was no other evidence.
"Last Tuesday I received a video, which I saw in the afternoon. I heard it at once and with tears in my eyes I called the Police in 1460, while at the same time I posted it on the internet to create a stir ", he said and added:" I tried to do the same in August 2018 with Orestes. I tried to create a stir even then, but unfortunately, I did not succeed ". He also said that it is very common for domestic helpers to complain about their working conditions. However, he said, most are in a state of fear and therefore do not take any action. "This also happened to the girl, who was and remains in this situation. In fact, she told me that when she saw the Police, she thought that her employer had sent her ".
Mr. Koutroukidis repeated the request of the association "to offer a state brochure to those who come to work, already from the airport. Inform these people where they can turn and where to complain. Do not be afraid. "They are people too, they are just poor people."
The Cypriot is speechless in the deposition
According to police sources of "F", the accused appeared before the District Court of Nicosia where he denied the accusations, with the next trial to be scheduled in September. However, during the testimony that preceded the Authorities, he chose to exercise the right of silence. However, according to the testimony of the 31-year-old domestic helper, the specific incident of violence was not the only one she faced working for the specific employer, since something similar had preceded last January. It is recalled that the authorities began the investigation of the case after the publication of the video.
Source: The Liberal