Hong Kong police arrest man on suspicion of attacking wife with meat cleaver
- Officers arrive at man’s flat in Wong Tai Sin after his 23-year-old son called police to report incident
- Victim, 47, is taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital to be treated for 4cm cut to head
Emergency personnel were dispatched to Sau Yuen House in Chuk Yuen South Estate in Wong Tai Sin at 5.49am after the couple’s 23-year-old son called police.
“The caller claimed his parents were in a dispute over their relationship, and at that juncture, his father was suspected of attacking his mother with a meat cleaver,” police said in a statement.
The mother, 47, suffered a 4cm cut to the head, but was conscious when taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment, according to the force. Officers took the father into custody over the incident.
Police said a 28cm knife believed to have been used in the attack was seized at the scene.
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As of midday, the suspect, who is unemployed, was still being held for questioning and had not been charged. Detectives from the Wong Tai Sin criminal investigation unit are handling the case.
Despite a 4.6 per cent drop in the overall number of crimes in the city this year, the number of domestic violence cases has surged by 31.8 per cent to 646 in the first six months of 2021.
According to the Social Welfare Department, the number of newly reported battered spouse or cohabitant cases also rose by 9.3 per cent to 678 between January and March.
Department figures show that more than 85 per cent of the victims were women, and nearly 61 per cent of perpetrators were the husbands of the victims.
More than 80 of this year’s cases involved physical violence, while others concerned sexual and psychological abuse.
