‘Beaten, unfed’ teen maid dies

A 16-year-old died at Calmette hospital in Phnom Penh yesterday morning after succumbing to an illness she contracted while working in virtual slavery as a maid in Malaysia, her family said. Toch Srey Neth signed up to go to Malaysia as a maid through the now-defunct T&P Co when she was only 15 years old. While there, she was reportedly beaten, under-fed and overworked without pay before being brought home, where she died a few weeks later of “multi-organ failure”, caused by “irreversible septic shock”, according to her death certificate. … The government revoked the licence of T&P Co last year for sending under-age girls like Toch Srey Neth to work in Malaysia, and issued an arrest warrant for its former director. Toch Srey Neth had listed her age as 23 on official documents to circumvent regulations preventing minors from working abroad. Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at Community Legal Education Center, said that Toch Srey Neth’s death was a tragic consequence of an ongoing problem.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557002/National-news/teen-maid-dies.html