An ATV broadcast of a woman being tortured and terrorised in footage said to have been videoed by serial killer Charles Ng was excessively violent and disturbing to viewers, according to the broadcasting watchdog.
The Broadcasting Authority described as disturbing a Hong Kong Today programme on November 5 and 6, which showed video footage of a hostage sitting on a chair, pleading to a man behind a video camera while another man ripped her T-shirt and bra.
Use of the footage, presented as evidence in the trial of Hong Kong-born Ng in a US court, was callous towards the victim and had an unnerving effect on viewers, the Broadcasting Authority said.
On February 25 this year in Santa Ana, California, Ng was convicted of 11 counts of first degree murder in a series of slavery killings dating to 1984. He faces the death penalty.
'The repeated showing of the video footage which depicted a helpless woman being stripped and sexually abused by a man who displayed complete callousness and indifference to her suffering was deliberate, unnecessary and disturbing to an average viewer,' the Broadcasting Authority said.
Ng was allegedly holding the video camera. The woman was subsequently killed.