Filipino domestic helper attacks employer and son, severing victim’s finger

MALAYSIA: A shocking knife attack involving a foreign domestic helper rocked a quiet residential area in Kuantan, Pahang, on Tuesday morning (November 11). A Filipina domestic helper, reportedly under severe work-related stress, assaulted her employer and the employer’s son, leaving both with serious injuries.

According to reports from China Press and Sin Chew Daily, the incident occurred at around 8:40 a.m. at a terraced house in Kuantan, Pahang. Police officers were quickly dispatched to the scene and arrested the suspect, who was also injured. The victims are a 57-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son.

A video circulating on social media shows the aftermath of the attack, with the living room floor smeared with blood. In the footage, a man can be seen standing in the middle of the room, covered in blood, clutching his left hand tightly as it bleeds heavily.

The Kuantan District Police Chief said that the mother had been in her bedroom upstairs when she heard her son shouting loudly from the ground floor. She rushed downstairs and saw her son engaged in a violent struggle with their maid in the living room.

“When the female employer tried to intervene, the suspect brandished a knife and struck her on the head,” the police chief said. “The employer managed to grab the knife from the suspect, but the maid immediately ran to the kitchen to grab another knife. The mother and son tried to stop her, and a struggle ensued in the kitchen.”

He added that during the scuffle, the mother managed to collect all the knives in the kitchen and throw them out of the window before calling the police for assistance.

The attack left the 28-year-old man with serious injuries, including a severed left thumb, head wounds, and a foot injury. His mother sustained a head wound and a left thumb injury. The maid herself suffered cuts to her left wrist, believed to be self-inflicted in a suicide attempt after the assault.

Preliminary police investigations suggest that the attack stemmed from the maid’s severe work-related stress. “She had told her employment agency she felt overwhelmed because the current employer’s house was much larger than her previous one, and the indoor environment was hot and uncomfortable,” the police chief revealed.

The suspect had been employed by the family for approximately 10 months and usually lived alone with the female employer. At the time of the incident, only the mother, her son, and the maid were at home.

Police investigations are ongoing.