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SCMP Reporter

A recent mainland immigrant finds life too tough, court hears

A mainland mother  killed her eight-year-old son after  settling in Hong Kong because she could not cope with the family's financial hardship,  the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.

Chen Xiao-ying, 32, pleaded guilty to  manslaughter for strangling her son, Wong Ka-kit, on March 4 this year at their flat in Choi Lau House, Choi Ming Court, Tseung Kwan O.

She came to Hong Kong on a one-way permit on January 15.

Prosecutor Michael Arthur said  the killing took place after Chen's husband, a construction worker, left  for work.

That afternoon, the husband received a phone call from Chen  claiming that she had killed their son.

He rushed home to find Chen weeping on the sofa and their son lying on the floor with a bloodstained bedsheet under his face, the court heard.

He then called the emergency services but the defendant became hysterical and threatened to jump out of the flat. He managed to calm her down and called the police.

Mr Arthur said Chen had told her husband she did not want to kill their son but she could not control herself.

The defendant also told the police that a few days before the killing, she could not sleep or eat because she was worried about her husband's employment situation and the financial pressure the family was facing. She said she had always wanted to die and to take her son with her because she was worried about him.

On the morning of March 4, she had planned to suffocate her son and jump from the building. But after the killing, she became frightened and called her husband instead.

The court heard that an autopsy report showed the cause of death was asphyxia and pressure to the neck, face and chest. The pathologist found the bruising on the boy's face and neck was consistent withsqueezing the throat with bare hands and smothering the face and nose.

Mr Justice Pang Kin-kee adjourned sentencing until December 3 for psychiatric reports.



Mother killed her 8-year-old son over financial woes