Kartika Puspitasari’s supporters met on Saturday to show solidarity with the former domestic worker, who is still fighting for compensation nearly three years after her abusers were jailed.

Campaigners and concerned members of the public squeezed into the Bethune House Refuge where she was being sheltered, offering food and words of comfort as her civil claim finally gets underway.

Tai Chi-wai and his wife Catherine Au Yuk-shan were sentenced to a combined 8.8 years for a reign of violence between October 2010 and October 2012. Tai’s abuses included attacking her with a bicycle chain while Au, who got five and a half years for taking a greater part in the assaults, used weapons such as hot irons and a paper cutter.

A medical report for the court showed Ms Puspitasari had 45 old and new scars all over her body.

However, the Indonesian Consulate failed to help her process her claim for injuries compensation.

She also lost a claim for unpaid wages and denial of days-off at the Labour Tribunal, forcing her to head back to Indonesia through charity donations alone.

The story would have ended there if it was not for campaigners from the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) and JBMI (Indonesian Migrant Workers Network), who travelled to Ms Puspitasari’s hometown to encourage her to claim the compensation she deserves.

Joining them in Indonesia was Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, whose own domestic worker abuse case received worldwide attention last year.

MFMW is helping Ms Puspitasari get legal aid for pursuing her civil claim in Hong Kong, where she is also having psychological and medical check-ups.