The 22-month-old girl was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital in the early hours of Thursday. Photo: Dickson Lee
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3015334/police-investigating-death-22-month-old-girl-hong-kong Law and Crime
Mother and two friends arrested on suspicion of mistreating 22-month-old girl who died at Hong Kong public hospital
- Mother left child with female friend in Tin Shui Wai in January and did not see her daughter again, police say
- Infant was taken to Tuen Mun Hospital shortly before 3.30am and died about 30 minutes later
The male suspect was picked up in Tin Shui Wai. Photo: Handout
A 25-year-old mother and her two friends were arrested on suspicion of ill-treating her 22-month-old daughter hours after the child died in a public hospital on Thursday.
A law enforcement source said the incident occurred while a foster care family was being arranged for the girl. The girl’s three siblings are also in foster care. The children’s father is in jail.
According to police, the mother left her daughter with a female friend in January to look after and then did not see the girl again.
The friend, 34, lives with her boyfriend, 32, and her three daughters – aged eight, three, and five months – in a Tin Shui Wai village house.
Shortly before 3.30am on Thursday, the 22-month-old girl was taken unconscious by the friend to Tuen Mun Hospital, where the child died shortly before 4am.
Police were notified after multiple injuries were found on the girl.
“Bruises were found on the girl’s cheeks, four limbs and right waist area,” chief inspector Yan Kwong-wai of the New Territories North regional crime unit said.
He said an initial investigation showed the injuries were caused by physical punishment.
The girl weighed 8kg, Yan said, adding that a child of the same age usually weighed between 9kg and 14kg.
He said an autopsy would be carried out to ascertain the cause of the death.
The friend was taken to Tuen Mun Police Station, where she was arrested. Her boyfriend was picked up in their Tin Shui Wai home, where officers found the three daughters.
“No injuries were found on the three sisters who were also taken to hospital for a check-up,” Yan said.
He said a care and protection order would be applied for in court for the authorities to get custody of the three sisters.
The toddler’s mother was arrested when she went to Tuen Mun Police Station in the afternoon.
As of 7pm, the three suspects were being held for questioning and none had been charged. Detectives from the New Territories North regional crime unit were handling the case.
In Hong Kong, ill-treatment or neglect of a child caries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. In the first three months of this year, the Social Welfare Department handled 237 new cases of child abuse.
The number of child abuse cases hit a 14-year high last year. The department’s child protection registry recorded 1,064 new cases in 2018, compared with 947 in 2017.