TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A labor broker and township councilman has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a female Indonesian migrant worker at a hotel in western Taiwan.
According to local media reports, a newly arrived female migrant worker from Indonesia was recently taken by her labor broker to a hotel in Changhua, where he allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her. The Changhua Department of Labor Affairs said that it has received relevant information from the woman's police report, but it has yet to be able to confirm its veracity.
The Department of Labor Affairs said that if rumors on the internet are true that the perpetrator was a labor broker, the matter will be dealt with in accordance with the law, and such acts are never tolerated. The department said that if the broker is employed by a private company, it will revoke its license to hire workers.
SETN reports that the female Indonesian migrant worker had arrived in Taiwan in March of this year. Instead of taking her straight to her employer, the suspect, surnamed Huang (黃), who is a broker for a manpower agency and serves as a township councilor, took the woman to a hotel, where he allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her.
After the alleged assault took place, Huang reportedly told the woman not to speak of the incident to others. Due to the language barrier and a lack of a mobile phone, she did not initially report the assault.
It was not until she was assigned to her employer's home that she broke down in tears and began to tell others of the incident. After word started spreading among her countrymen, the assault became known by the public.
However, the broker agency then took the woman away to "protect" her. Fearing for her safety, fellow Indonesian caregivers then reported the incident to the media.
In response, the agency said that it had been planning to relocate her to another family, but said it would return her to her original employers within five days, reported UDN.
Due to the negative impact of the incident on the image of broker companies in Taiwan, a group of brokers formed an investigation team, according to UDN. Court documents showed that two and a half years ago, another Indonesian woman had called the police saying that Huang had taken her to a hotel room and assaulted her.
On that occasion, police arrived at the scene, and Huang clashed with officers. Huang and the woman later reconciled, but he was sentenced to six months in jail for Interference with Public Functions (妨害公務罪).
