The SUN HK : Trial begins for DH accused of assaulting male employer

Tregunter Path in Midlevels, where the assault allegedly happened

The trial of a Filipina domestic helper accused of assaulting her male employer began today at the Eastern Court, with her alleged victim's story unravelling under questioning by prosecution and defense lawyers.

Romalyn Marinay, 36, looked on as Shek Yuet-hey, a corporate lawyer, testified on the three counts of common assault that allegedly happened on Nov. 29, 2020, March 17, 2021 and July 21, 2021 when they lived together with his wife and another helper in a flat in Tregunter Path, Mid-Levels, Central.

Shek has since moved out after he and his wife divorced following proceedings at the Family Court.

With the prosecutor showing CCTV clips and videos that he himself shot, Shek said that in the first incident which happened outside a room occupied by Marinay and the other helper, he was telling her to stay home on her day off because of the risk of catching Covid-19.

DETALYE

He said that when Marinay got out of the room, she hit his left hand and then pushed him on the chest. He said he did not need medical treatment.

In the second incident, which he also caught on video, his right hand was caught between the room’s folding door and the door frame when the door was suddenly closed by Marinay, who then pushed on the door’s hinge to keep it closed. He said his right hand turned red and painful because of this.

In the third incident, he said his left hand was again caught while he was reaching into the room, when Marinay slammed the door shut. He said he was video recording with a mobile phone in his right hand to protect himself. He also said she slapped and kicked his hand.

PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE

When it was the turn of defense lawyer Selwyn Yu, S.C., to question him, Shek’s narrative changed.

Yu made him agree that Marinay’s work contract was signed by his wife. “Legally speaking,” Yu asserted, “You were not her employer.” But Shek said he paid her salary, since his wife had no job.

Yu made Shek agree that in all three incidents, it was he who went to the maids’ room. “As a lawyer,” Yu told him, “you know there is something called privacy.”

Pindutin para sa detalye

He noted that Shek “made deliberate attempts to enter … the room … to intimidate her, to provoke her. Why?”

Yu provided the answer by showing several videos taken by Marinay showing Shek pounding on the door, and ranting about her siding with his wife in the divorce case that was ongoing at that time in the Family Court.

Marinay became a witness for his wife in the divorce proceedings. Yu added that by intimidating her, he was actually perverting the course of justice.

Pindutin para sa detalye

“I disagree,” Shek answered after being reminded by Magistrate Minnie Wat that he had the right to refuse to answer a question that may incriminate himself.

On later questioning, Shek said he “may have” intimidated Marinay. When asked if his behavior was threatening, he answered, “Yes.”

By having Shek’s own video of the first incident run on slow motion, Yu showed that there was no contact between him and Marinay.

On the second incident, also playing Shek’s video on slow motion, Yu showed that the one who closed the door was not Marinay but the other helper, and that Shek extended his hand into the door just as it was closing.

In the third incident, using a longer CCTV footage than that presented by Shek, Yu showed that Shek had reached into the room while taking a video and tried to pull Marinay's legs while she was sitting on the top bunker of the bed inside.

Yu summed up by telling Shek: “You fabricated and exaggerated your evidence against a vulnerable maid.”

The hearing continues.