A boy fell to the street from his family’s flat earlier this month when he was left alone at home, for which his mother and a domestic helper from Indonesia working for the family have been arrested, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok announced during a regular press conference on Friday.
The police discovered that before the case, which occurred on July 15, the boy had been left unattended at home twice.
Ho did not mention when exactly the two women were arrested.
The boy, whose age was not revealed, was still undergoing hospital treatment for his serious head injuries at the time of Friday’s press conference.
Ho identified the boy’s mother as a 40-year-old local surnamed Sio, who told the police that she works as a beautician, and the domestic helper as a 37-year-old surnamed Fatmah.
According to Ho, the residential building where the case occurred is located on Rua do Gamboa (夜呣街), a street near Praça de Ponte e Horta (司打口) in the Inner Harbour district.
Boy still in hospital for intracranial haemorrhage
Ho said that the authorities received reports at around 1 p.m. on July 15 about a boy lying in the street, after which paramedics rushed him to hospital for emergency treatment for serious head injuries.
According to Ho, the boy was diagnosed with intracranial haemorrhage, i.e., bleeding within the skull, following emergency treatment. He was still undergoing hospital treatment at the time of the press conference.
According to local Chinese-language media reports on July 16, the boy is about four to five years old.
Doctors confirmed that the boy’s injuries were consistent with a fall from a height.
After an investigation, Ho said, the police confirmed that the boy was lying in the street after falling from a residential building there.
According to Ho, the boy lives with his parents, elder brother and the domestic helper in the flat.
Ho said that the boy’s parents left home with the boy’s elder brother in the morning of July 15, during which the domestic helper was looking after the boy at home. At around midday, Ho said, the domestic worker needed to pick up the elder brother from another place, the location of which was not disclosed by the press conference, and the boy’s mother agreed on the phone that the domestic worker leave the boy alone at home and give him a tablet computer to play with.
The domestic worker then locked the flat’s front door and went to pick up the boy’s elder brother, Ho said.
Boy left alone at home twice before
Getting scared while being alone at home, Ho said, the boy started to cry for help and tried to unlock the front door, but in vain, after which he went to the kitchen, where he fell into the street from the window at 12:50 p.m., Ho said.
According to Ho, PJ officers also found in their investigation that the boy had previously been left alone at home twice before and the same situation occurred again for the third time on July 15 – this time resulting in the boy’s fall.
The first time that the boy was left unattended at home occurred on June 17, Ho said.
Based on the findings of their investigation, Ho said, the Judiciary Police arrested the boy’s mother and the domestic helper. Ho did not mention when exactly they were arrested.
Ho said that the two females have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing abandonment/exposure charges listed by Article 135 of the Penal Code.
According to the Penal Code’s Article 135, both face a prison term of up to eight years.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Wai Lok speaks during Friday’s regular press conference. – Photo courtesy of TDM
