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More police patrols urged after girl, 16, raped on estate

Police have been asked by residents to step up patrols at a public housing estate after a 16-year-old girl was robbed and raped yesterday.

The attack in Chai Wan came a fortnight before the Housing Department begins work to heighten security measures at the 21-year-old Wan Tsui Estate.

The girl, on her way home after a night out with her friends in Mongkok, was attacked while waiting for a lift in the ground-floor lobby of Hei Tsui House at 5.30am.

'When she was waiting . . . a man approached her and threatened her with a knife,' a police officer said.

'He grabbed her neck from behind with his arm, pointing at her back with the knife covered by his jacket.' The girl was then taken at knifepoint to a bush area near a playground, where the man attacked her.

The rapist fled with her watch worth about $1,600, a ring and $70.

The attack scene is a few minutes' walk from the point at which the victim was abducted.

'The girl saw an elderly woman but she did not dare shout for help because the knife was pointed to her back,' the officer said.

The girl was taken to Eastern Hospital for a check-up.

Police combed the area but found no trace of the attacker, said to be aged about 30, about 1.68 metres tall and of medium build. He was wearing a red-and-blue jacket and blue jeans.

Eastern District Council member, Kung Pak-cheung, representing the estate, said he was concerned about law and order there.

'Drug addicts who live on the estate are often found taking injections in the rear staircases or areas in the estate's parks,' he said.

Mr Kung said closed-circuit television cameras had been placed in lifts and security guards patrolled at night but it was not enough.

Eastern district commander, Chief Superintendent Hung Hak-wai, said it was the first rape case in Chai Wan in recent years.

He said they would step up patrols in the area.

There are 10 public housing blocks in Wan Tsui Estate but no caretaker to check visitors or gate to prevent strangers from entering.

Assistant housing manager Chan Kwok Siu-chu, of Wan Tsui Estate, said security measures would be upgraded.

'Iron gates will be installed in lift lobbies of the 10 blocks and there will be a 24-hour watchman's service,' she said. The work would be completed next month.

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