Hong Kong girl, 4, covered in bruises remains in critical condition; mum arrested
- Older brother finds girl submerged in partially filled bathtub, her body covered in bruises
- Mother arrested on suspicion of ill-treatment or neglect while in charge of a child
A four-year-old girl alleged to have been assaulted by her mother remained in a critical condition in a Hong Kong hospital on Sunday after she was found submerged and covered in bruises in a partially filled bathtub.
The 38-year-old mother was arrested on suspicion of ill-treatment or neglect while in charge of a child or young person. She was still in police custody on Sunday night.
The girl’s eight-year-old brother found her unconscious and alone in the bathtub in the family’s flat in the Billionnaire Royale estate on Sa Po Road in Kowloon City at about 9.30am on Saturday, according to a police source.
The boy was brushing his teeth in the bathroom while the mother was helping the girl take a bath, the insider said. The mother then went into the kitchen and the boy also left, so the girl was alone in the partially filled tub.
Several minutes later, the brother returned to find the girl unconscious at the bottom of the tub. He immediately alerted the mother and called the emergency hotline, according to the insider. The girl was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei and remains in a critical condition in the intensive care unit.
Responding medical personnel discovered bruises on the girl’s upper body, back, arms and legs and notified police. The woman was arrested at the scene.
The family’s domestic helper told investigators that the mother had previously hit the girl and she reported hearing the daughter crying loudly on Friday night.
The insider said the mother and her businessman husband also had another son, aged four.
The family moved to the city in March last year, and due to the father’s frequent business trips, the couple hired an Indonesian domestic helper on February 19.
The source added that the girl’s two brothers, who did not display any injuries, would be temporarily cared for by a 40-year-old aunt.
Hong Kong recorded 1,394 child abuse cases in 2023, a 12.3 per cent increase from the year before. Half of the cases logged were sex abuse, and the other 50 per cent involved physical abuse.
Police arrested a 33-year-old woman, hired through a government-funded childcare scheme, on suspicion of child abuse in January after a baby girl she was taking care of suffered a blood clot on her brain and fell into a coma.
The baby, nine months old at the time, was said to be in a stable condition in hospital, but her parents have revealed that she could be permanently paralysed and blind.
The legislation would make a variety of people, including those in roles in health, social work and teaching, liable to three months in jail and HK$50,000 (US$6,390) fine for failure to report suspected child abuse cases.
The proposed legislation is at present being scrutinised by the bills committee.
