A MALAYSIAN man who kept an Indonesian woman in her 60s as a domestic slave, deprived her of food and sleep and subjected her to repeated violence has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Chee Kit Chong, 47, was found guilty earlier this year of intentionally possessing a slave and assault after keeping the woman in his Point Cook home in Melbourne’s west between February and October 2022.
ABC news cited on Friday that his wife, Angie Yeh Liaw, was acquitted after the charges against her were dropped during the six-week trial.
County Court Judge Michael Cahill described Chong’s treatment of the woman as “callous and cruel”, telling him during sentencing: “You treated her as a slave.”
“That is, you used her like property you owned.”
Slavery is a federal offence in Australia carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment.
Appearing by video link from Ravenhall Correctional Centre, Chong remained emotionless as the court heard that he denied the woman proper medical care and adequate food, controlled her movements and deprived her of sleep.
Judge Cahill said Chong repeatedly admonished the woman by text message when her work did not meet his standards and “hit her for the smallest mistake”.
The court heard that Chong smashed her head through a wall and kicked her in the face during the period she was kept at the home.
He was also initially charged with striking her with a vacuum cleaner shaft, but that charge was later dropped.
On at least one occasion, Chong told the woman she could sleep either on the stairs or in the garage.
The judge said Chong had also told friends he was paying the woman up to $5,000 a month for her work, when he was not.
The woman resorted to asking a local charity for crackers and other small food items because they were “easy to hide” from Chong.
She eventually left the home in October 2022 and was unaccounted for several days before police located her and took her to hospital by taxi.
She arrived malnourished, with a swollen ear and leg, a cut on her foot and bruising near her eye.
Judge Cahill described as “chilling” the fact that Chong later told his wife that she should not have allowed the woman to leave their home.
The couple had met the woman in Malaysia in 2015 and had become close.
“From the time you met her, [the woman] was generous and loyal to you … she treated you like a son,” Judge Cahill said.
The woman had previously travelled to Australia, where she became homeless and worked as a street vendor.
She moved into Chong and Liaw’s home in early 2022 to help with household duties after the birth of their second child.
The court heard Chong subsequently pressured her for large sums of money, which she borrowed from relatives in Indonesia and from an op-shop where she worked, as he struggled to meet rent and hospital expenses related to the birth.
The woman, who cannot be named under Australian law protecting victims of slavery offences, died of natural causes in 2024.
Chong will be eligible for parole in 2030 and is expected to be deported to Malaysia after serving his sentence.
The Australian Federal Police, which investigated the case, said the outcome demonstrated its commitment to pursuing human exploitation offences.
“Human trafficking and modern slavery offences strip victims of their freedom, dignity and basic human rights. They lose their sense of identity,” said AFP Detective Superintendent Ray Imbriano.
“This offending involved the exploitation of a vulnerable woman for personal gain.
“It serves as a reminder that these crimes can occur within our own communities, often behind closed doors,” he said. - September 4, 2026
