Paul Yong is pictured at the Ipoh High Court July 12. 2021. — Picture by Farhan Najib
IPOH, July 12 — A maid agency representative, testifying in the rape trial of Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong, told the High Court here that she did not receive any enquiry from the victim’s employer on the maid’s mental health status.
Chor Pei Sun, 47, a sales and marketing representative of a maid agency, said the employer went by the name of one ‘Mrs Yong’, whom only called the agency to check whether the maid’s Foreign Workers Medical Examination (Fomema) had been approved.
“Mrs Yong called the agency once (prior to the alleged rape incident) to check if there was a problem with her former maid’s medical check-up,” said Chor, testifying in front of Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed.
Chor was answering Yong’s lawyer Salim Bashir, who asked whether Yong had ever called the agency to ask about the maid before the alleged rape incident, which took place on July 8, 2019.
When questioned by Salim whether she remembers the date of the phone call or the details on the medical problems asked by Mrs Yong, Chor said she could not do so.
Chor also said that she ‘did not agree’ when Salim asked whether she had ever questioned the maid if she had any mental issues before working at Yong’s residence in May 2019.
Chor also said ‘she could not remember’ when Salim suggested that Yong wasn’t aware of the maid’s mental health report in Indonesia.
Earlier, Salim also asked whether the agency provided its contact number to maids in case of any problems, to which Chor replied “normally the agency won’t do so”.
Salim then asked who the workers called if they encountered any issues.
Chor replied that the agency has never come across such a case (referring to the rape case).
“If the maid refuses to continue working at a particular house, the employer would usually call the agency,” she said.
When Salim asked who the maid should call if her employer failed to pay her salary, Chor said that would be the Indonesian embassy, with staff there informing the agency concerned.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi prosecuted.
Yong, 51, pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping his Indonesian domestic helper at his house in Meru Desa Park on July 7, 2019 between 8.15pm and 9.15pm.
The case had been mentioned in the Sessions Court but, on December 15 last year, the Federal Court allowed an application by the defence to transfer the case to the High Court.
Yong was first charged in the Sessions Court here on August 23, 2019, when he was the state Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs and New Villages Committee chairman.