A former drug addict released from a treatment centre after his mother died was beaten up by two Social Welfare employees when he went to collect $9,000 for burial expenses, a court heard yesterday.
Unemployed Mak Hung-yin, 59, is suing Tsang Koon-chung, 47, and Leung Chi-shing, 36, for $350,000 in damages, alleging he was assaulted at the Kwai Hing government offices.
Mr Mak testified yesterday that on January 31, 1996, he and his ex-wife went to the Social Security Office to collect burial expenses after his mother died that month.
The Court of First Instance heard Mr Mak became impatient after waiting for some time and verbally abused Mr Tsang, who was behind the counter.
Mr Mak claimed they were arguing when Mr Tsang came from behind the counter and punched him in the stomach. He was then pushed into a room by the two defendants, the court heard.
'I was bumped into something hard and I fell on the ground,' Mr Mak said. 'They then pressed me on the floor and I was assaulted with two fists for about three minutes.' He said he had to crawl out of the room as he felt dizzy.
