Arrested mother claims two-week-old baby found in Mong Kok library was to be picked up by 11-year-old brother later
Boy thought to be only two weeks old
Police arrested a woman on Saturday thought to have abandoned her two-week-old son in a library, who claimed she had left the baby with two older children and told her 11-year-old son to pick him up later.
The woman said she only realised the problem when she heard news reports of an abandoned baby.
A police spokesman said a librarian reported the find shortly after 12.30pm.
Staff had found the baby on a desk inside the children’s multimedia room in Fa Yuen Street Public Library, Mong Kok. They tried to look for the parents in the library, but to no avail.
A police source said the baby was about two weeks old and was found in a basket.
“The 42-year-old mother and her 11-year-old son, who studied in primary six, were frequent visitors to this library,” the police insider said.
“The mother told us she brought the baby to the library in the morning when the elder son was in school. She then left the place for unknown reasons and asked two kids there to look after the baby,” he said, adding that the youngsters knew the woman very well.
The source said the mother told the son to pick up his younger brother after school, but realised she was in trouble after the media widely reported on the abandoned baby, whom she realised was her younger son.
“She then contacted the library trying to claim back the baby,” the source continued. “She said she did not abandon him. We arrested her for child abuse when she turned up.
“We have to investigate if she was telling the truth.”
The baby was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital for treatment and a check-up.
He was seen being wrapped in a red towel when a policewoman carried him to the hospital.
Officers investigated at the scene and checked CCTV footage for clues.
In September Tuen Mun Court sentenced a mother to 100 hours of community service for abandoning her month-old baby outside a building in Yuen Long 12 years ago.
And in July police launched a citywide hunt for a 30-year-old asylum seeker from Indonesia, after she ran away from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, leaving her newborn daughter behind.
