Girls sob in witness box
TWO daughters who claim their father sexually assaulted them broke down in tears while giving evidence yesterday.
Judge Surman adjourned the trial for 20 minutes after the defendant's 15-year-old daughter started sobbing.
She had been describing how she woke on the night of May 26 to find her father, 60, fondling her breasts.
The judge recommended a woman, perhaps her mother or a social worker, accompany the girl while she gave evidence. But, during the recess, the girl calmed down and refused a companion when she returned to the witness box.
Her 20-year-old step-sister, giving evidence later, also cried when asked by prosecutor Susanna Ku Pui-fong why she had not reported her stepfather's alleged assault for more than six months.
She told the District Court she was woken in the middle of the night on April 16 last year when she found her stepfather withdrawing his hand from her pyjamas.
'I chose to ignore the incident for so long because my mother is suffering from a mental illness and I was terrified police would arrest and take my stepfather away,' she said.
'And then no one would make sure my mother took her medicine and she would not be able to fully take care of my brother and sisters.' The couple, who live in Sha Tin, have two other daughters and a young son.
The man, an unemployed hawker, pleaded not guilty to the allegations and to a further two charging he touched the breasts of his 12-year-old daughter.
He showed no emotion during the tearful testimony, keeping his head bent and only glancing occasionally at his daughters.
The 12-year-old is to give evidence today and Ms Ku requested the court let a policewoman accompany her to the witness box.
The two older daughters told the court they had not fallen out with their stepfather before they reported him to the police, but said he often scolded them.
And both claimed fear of being scolded stopped them calling for help when the assaults took place.
Police child abuse unit head Patricia Walsh said the legal system's treatment of alleged incest victims made their courtroom experience a 'nightmare'.
'It's heartbreaking,' she said later.
'But there are changes under way that will hopefully go a long way towards making things better for these children.' By the end of October, police hope to have set up the first of a series of special video suites.
These will provide a comfortable atmosphere in which children can sit with social workers and tell their stories to cameras, sparing them the trauma of facing defendants across courtrooms filled with strangers.
The trial continues today.
