Hong Kong couple charged with murdering five-year-old daughter told police ‘she hurt herself’, while paramedics battled to save little girl’s life
- Father admits to beating girl with rattan cane but says other injuries ‘were self-inflicted’
- Autopsy shows child died of septicaemia, but also riddled with infections notably in spleen and small intestine
A Hong Kong couple accused of murdering their five-year-old daughter told investigators she “would hurt herself” when they were being questioned while rescuers tried to save the child.
The High Court heard the little girl, who was found with multiple injuries, was certified dead in Tuen Mun Hospital minutes later at 2.38pm on January 6, 2018 after failing to respond to CPR and doses of adrenaline.
An autopsy conducted three days later by forensic pathologist Dr Kwok Ka-ki discovered that while septicaemia was the cause of death, the girl was also riddled with salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus infections in multiple parts of her body, notably in her spleen and small intestine.
Prosecutors alleged the child’s death was indirectly caused by the assault, ill-treatment and neglect on the part of her 29-year-old father and 30-year-old stepmother, between August 10, 2017 and January 6, 2018.
The couple have denied the murder charge, but admitted child cruelty in respect to the girl and her eight-year-old brother. The children’s 56-year-old step-grandmother has denied all four counts of child cruelty.
None of the defendants or their relatives can be named following Mr Justice Albert Wong Sung-hau’s gag order, to protect the identity of the children.