Girl, 15, found dead in Hong Kong rubbish bin 'may have died during hotel sex game'
Teenager naked from waist down was found bound with plastic strips and adhesive tape
Police arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of killing a teenage girl whose half-naked body was found in a bag at a rubbish collection centre in Mong Kok on Tuesday.
The young victim, who was identified on Tuesday evening as a 15-year-old, was believed to have been involved in compensated dating – a disguised form of prostitution – and was also paid to pose for photos, a police source said.
“Initial investigations showed the suspect was believed to be her client,” the source said.
As the girl was naked from the waist down and was bound with plastic strips and adhesive tape, the source said police were investigating whether she had died during a sex game.
He said officers were trying to find out whether the suspect sought the date with her on the internet, and how long they had known each other.
However, police maintained that the motive was unknown and an autopsy would be carried out to establish whether she had been strangled.
According to police, a female cleaner, 58, discovered the body and alerted her supervisor, a 56-year-old man, who called police.
“Her head, neck and four limbs were bound with plastic strips and adhesive tape,” said Superintendent Lam Shu-wing of Kowloon West regional crime unit.
“Initial examination carried out by forensic pathologists indicated the victim had been dead for a day and had had sexual intercourse.”
He said injuries, caused by the plastic strips, were found on her neck. “At least three plastic strips were found around her neck,” Lam said.
It is understood that her head and two hands were extensively tied with adhesive tape.
After studying closed-circuit television footage from nearby buildings, police picked up the suspect at his home in Yau Ma Tei at about 3pm. The unemployed man remained in police custody on Tuesday night.
The police source said the man checked into the Harbour Hotel in Canton Road, Mong Kok on Monday afternoon and checked out at about 8am yesterday. The hotel is about 300 metres from the refuse collection centre.
“Initial investigations showed that a trolley was borrowed from the refuse collection centre and the body was wheeled from the hotel to the collection centre before the man checked out,” the source said.
Compensated dating is a form of prostitution in which girls provide companionship and sex to men for gifts and money. Its seriousness came to light with the murder of a 16-year-old girl in Sham Shui Po in 2008.
