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In the case in which the employer of a registered
muitsai had failed to pay the prescribed wages, the
defendant was convicted and cautioned, but was ordered to
pay the arrears of wages due, amounting to $20.75.
There were no prosecutions for ill-treatment of
muitsai by their employers.
A detailed return of convictions secured under
the ordinance is attached.
5. Two prosecutions, in which muitsai were involved,
were taken under the Offences against the Person Ordinance
(No.2 of 1865).
In one case a woman sent a girl, whom she had
recently through ignorance of the law purchased as a
muitsai, to the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, under the
misapprehension that she could still be registered.
As
the girl had not yet done any domestic work, and did not
therefore come under the definition of "muitsai", (Section 3
of Ordinance No.1 of 1923) her prospective employer was
prosecuted, under Section 45a of Ordinance No.2 of 1865, for
the purchase alone. She was convicted and cautioned and
the girl was restored to her mother.
In the other case, a member of the family in
which a registered muitsai was employed had beaten the girl,
in spite of the attempted intervention of the latter's
employer. The defendant in this case was fined $50, and
the girl was restored to her mother.
6. One registered muitsai aged 15 years committed
suicide during the period under review.
The police and
the coroner were satisfied that no other person was
concerned in her death. She was apparently of a peculiarly
happy temperament and must have suffered some sudden mental derangement.
Another
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