杭州保姆纵火案致使家政行业受打击

The housekeeping industry in east China’s Hangzhou City is in a rut after a recent arson case where a housekeeper set fire to her employer’s apartment, killing a mother and three children.

Last Thursday, a fire broke out at a luxurious apartment in Hangzhou at around 5:07 a.m. local time. The blaze was soon put out, but four residents died at the hospital after they were found by fire fighters at the scene.

Local police said the fire was a case of arson. They detained the 34-year-old housekeeper, identified only as Mo, who escaped the scene using an elevator for the help.

The housekeeper who gambles

Mo, originally from south China’s Guangdong Province, has worked for the family for almost a year, during which the employer treated and paid her well, Mo’s friend told The Paper. 

“But Mo is addicted to gambling. We used to gamble together in Macao, have debts we cannot repay and escaped together to east China working as housekeepers,” the friend said.

After first moving to Shanghai in 2014, Mo continued gambling and borrowed money from friends, coworkers and even her employers, before she settled down with the victims’ family in 2016 and moved to Hangzhou.

The victims’ family was not aware of her gambling history and trusted her a lot, even lending Mo 100,000 yuan (15,000 US dollars) when Mo claimed she needed to buy a property.

Impact on housekeeping market

Many now have doubts over the management of housekeeping agencies in the city. 

At least in Hangzhou, becoming a housekeeper only requires one to hold an identity card, have basic communications skills and can handle basic housework. Most housekeepers are primary and secondary school graduates.

Even health certificates are not required. A supervisor surnamed Li from a local housekeeping agency said she tells her clients to take their employees for physicals, as some housekeepers may provide counterfeit health certificates to get a job.

“We record ID information, check criminal history and do basic backgrounds check, but there are always those who are almighty to hide their dark secrets. After all, we can’t read hearts," Li said.

Housekeepers in Hangzhou now have to deal with the ramifications of the actions of one bad egg.

“The news resulted in an unexpected degree of negative impact on us," one housekeeping agency said. “All of a sudden housekeeping has become a dangerous job, and we haven’t received new customers.”