Advertisement
Advertisement
A male employee (left) at the Diamond Hill centre of Hong Chi Association yanking a woman's shirt collar with his right hand. Another case (right) involved a 50-year-old female member at the same centre who was allegedly force fed by two employees during a dinner. Photo: Fernando Cheung

Caught on camera: Employees accused of abusing people with learning disabilities including 'force feeding woman'

One of the city's largest non-governmental organisations looking after intellectually disabled people has been accused of abusing at least two female members at one of its centres earlier this year.

The accusations came to light after the Chinese-language uploaded CCTV footage yesterday showing a male employee at the Diamond Hill centre of Hong Chi Association yanking a woman's shirt collar with his right hand. He then pushed her into a cabinet.

The association later confirmed that one of its staff had handled the situation "inappropriately", adding that he had been warned about his action and would be transferred.

"The association found that, after investigation, the member's emotions were unstable that day and the staff involved intended to let her calm down nearby," a spokesman said. "[He] was not using violence, but the way has to be improved."

The woman had bruises on her cheek after the incident.

Labour Party legislator Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, a registered social worker, said the alleged abuses were "unacceptable" and he reported the cases to the police yesterday.

Cheung said that to his knowledge some centre employees had brought the cases to the attention of the association's higher management as they disagreed with how the incidents were handled, but to no avail.

The lawmaker and veteran social activist said each of the women involved had a moderate to serious intellectual disability, putting their mental age at no more than eight.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Abuse alleged at centre for intellectually disabled
Post