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Brian Wong

A couple has been jailed for life in Hong Kong over what a judge called the “completely disgraceful” abuse and murder of their newborn son six years ago.
The High Court on Wednesday sentenced Hong Kong residents Imran Hossain, 32, and Farzana Akter, 29, for mistreating and killing their seven-week-old baby, Iyman Hossain, in 2019.
A day earlier, a seven-member jury returned a unanimous verdict to convict the pair of murder and child cruelty in a case that hinged on circumstantial evidence due to the absence of any eyewitnesses.
The boy died six days after he lost consciousness in the family’s subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po on August 24, 2019.
The court heard that Iyman, the second of the couple’s three children, was growing healthily, according to his last medical check-up at a clinic on August 8, but stopped gaining weight and sustained multiple injuries to his head and body before he was hospitalised.
Iyman was diagnosed with bleeding under the skull, brain damage, and multiple thigh and rib fractures.
Medical experts who testified for the prosecution opined that the boy’s head injuries were consistent with symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, which often results from blunt trauma or vigorous shaking of an infant.
Prosecutors had sought to prove their case by highlighting the couple’s delay in seeking medical help for their unconscious son, as well as their calm demeanour over the newborn’s injuries, as seen on hospital surveillance footage.
Madam Justice Amanda Woodcock said on Wednesday she was sure, based on the jury’s verdict, that one of the parents had violently shaken the infant with murderous intent, while the other had “aided and abetted by standing by passively and failing in their duty as a parent to their child”.
She also took the unemployed couple to task for attempting to cast the blame on their eldest son, 22-month-old Farhan, whom they portrayed as a jealous and naughty child who would hurt the deceased at the sight of the mother breastfeeding him.

“It is hard to believe the defendants shamelessly blamed their innocent eldest child for this baby’s death,” the judge said.
“What they did to the deceased and how they failed to protect him is an abomination to anyone. It is impossible to imagine what pain that poor child would have been in with injuries this serious.”
The couple claimed that Farhan had pinched, bitten and scratched his younger brother, as well as dropping him on the floor and inflicting a cut on his forehead by hurling a mobile phone at him.
Woodcock said the defendants failed to provide Iyman with sufficient nutrition and a safe environment, as well as failing to seek timely medical attention for him.
She noted the couple’s two remaining children, who are now in the care of the Social Welfare Department, were also victims in this “completely disgraceful saga”.
The judge also sentenced the defendants to six years in jail each for child cruelty and ordered that they be served concurrently with the couple’s life sentences for murder.
The sentencing came hot on the heels of a trial involving another shocking murder of a minor in Hong Kong.
Delivery worker Lau Kai-ping, 42, was jailed for life in March this year for shaking his three-year-old daughter to death in July 2020. He has filed an appeal against his conviction.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Hong Kong, whereas child cruelty is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.


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Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong court jails couple for life for murdering, abusing newborn son

Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Hong Kong, whereas child cruelty is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Photo: Warton Li

The boy died six days after he lost consciousness in the family’s subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po on August 24, 2019. Photo: Eugene Lee

Hong Kong court convicts couple of child cruelty, murdering newborn son

A High Court jury passed a unanimous guilty verdict. Photo: Warton Li

The court heard the infant was hospitalised with head trauma and rib fractures. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong father who shook 3-year-old daughter to death appeals conviction

A document made available at the High Court revealed that Lau Kai-ping, 42, had submitted an appeal against his conviction for one count of murder. Photo: Sun Yeung

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Judge calls treatment of seven-week-old Iyman Hossain by parents Imran Hossain and Farzana Akter ‘completely disgraceful’


Judge calls treatment of seven-week-old Iyman Hossain by parents Imran Hossain and Farzana Akter ‘completely disgraceful’.


Crime in Hong Kong

Crime

Hong Kong court jails couple for life for murdering, abusing newborn son

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Judge calls treatment of seven-week-old Iyman Hossain by parents Imran Hossain and Farzana Akter ‘completely disgraceful’

Judge calls treatment of seven-week-old Iyman Hossain by parents Imran Hossain and Farzana Akter ‘completely disgraceful’