HK businessman tortured in S African robbery returns home for treatment

A Hong Kong businessman who was beaten and burned with boiling water and oil by a gang raiding his factory near Johannesburg, South Africa, has returned home for treatment of his injuries.

Zhao Limin and three of his employees, Michael Wang, Peter Hou and Lily Huang, were held up earlier this month by robbers.

The gang believed that Mr Zhao held large sums of cash at his plastics factory in Germiston, an industrial city east of Johannesburg.

'His injuries were severe, so Mr Zhao has returned to Hong Kong where he is recovering in hospital,' says Xu Defu, of the Chinese consulate in Johannesburg. The employees are believed to be in South Africa. They were also beaten and had boiling water poured on them.

The attack took place on December 10 when seven men armed with guns and knives stormed into Mr Zhao's factory in the evening. Mr Zhao, his three compatriots and four local workers were on the premises.

When Mr Zhao failed to come up with the money they thought he had, the robbers pressed a hot steam iron against his face and poured boiling water over his genitals and boiling oil on his back during two hours of torment. They eventually left with 8,000 rand (HK$8,800) - all that Mr Zhao had.

'They thought we had more money but we did not,' Mr Zhao told The Star in Johannesburg.