KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian court has charged a woman and her son with killing their Indonesian housemaid, a judge said Thursday, in the country's latest case of alleged abuse against foreign workers.

Canteen operator K. Letchmy, 55, and university student K. Kannan, 26, did not enter pleas when they were charged with murder Wednesday in a magistrate court in southern Malacca state, Judge Muhamad Faizal Ismail said. If found guilty, they could face death by hanging.

Nurul Aida M. Nur, 31, died at their home on Jan. 21. The Star newspaper reported that an autopsy showed she died of injuries caused by a blunt object.

Muhamad Faizal said the case would be heard April 6 in a High Court because of the seriousness of the charge.

Some 230,000 Indonesian maids work in Malaysia. Each year hundreds complain of mistreatment, such as unpaid salaries, overwork and in some cases physical abuse, straining ties between the neighbors.

A sugar cane juice seller is now on trial on charges of murdering his Indonesian maid, who died after being found beaten and locked in a bathroom. (AP)