Girl in death fall after mother's theft claim

A 13-year-old girl plunged to her death two hours after being wrongly accused by her mother of stealing $40, an inquest heard yesterday.

The tearful mother, Lam Mui-fung, told a jury she had found the money in another wallet almost immediately after making the accusation, but her daughter had already left the house. She intended to apologise to her when she got home from school that day - but she never returned.

A five-member jury yesterday returned an open verdict on the death of Chan Ka-ying, whose body was found on the ground floor of a Tseung Kwan O public housing building on February 21.

Police found a two-page letter in Ka-ying's school bag left on the rear stair landing between the 18th and 19th floors of the building.

In the letter, she spoke of being wrongly accused of stealing the money from her mother about two hours before her death.

She also complained of being bullied by her classmates over a separate allegation of theft on February 20.