The first Cambodian maid to successfully sue her employer in a Malaysian court came home on Sunday, and is leveraging her landmark case to insist that more victims seek compensation through the legal system.

“They need urgent help,” Men Chan Veasna, 30, told the Post in a phone interview from her home in Kampong Cham.

Veasna had accused her employer of overwork and withholding her salary for the duration of a two-year contract.

She eventually escaped and took shelter with NGO CARAM, which helped her prepare a case that wound up in the Malaysian Supreme Court.

Veasna was awarded 3,800 Malaysian ringgits (about US$1,200), which equalled the sum of her missed salary over two years of service.

The court also approved an undisclosed amount, yet to be calculated, for the mistreatment she endured on the job.

Although she would have liked to receive more compensation, Veasna did not want to spend any more time in court.

“Anyway, I got my salary. They will send it to me by way of CARAM,” she said. “It is my new life after spending more than two years in a nightmare.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Sen David at [email protected]