A murder case has occurred in Kai Tak. At around 8 am yesterday (Oct. 11), a 93-year-old local woman was found unconscious in a unit at Tak Long Estate. Rescue personnel arrived and sent her to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. The deceased's family reviewed CCTV footage and discovered that the domestic helper had assaulted the victim. Following preliminary investigations, police arrested the 52-year-old domestic helper on suspicion of murder.
Police provided details of the case this afternoon (Oct. 12), saying the incident took place between approximately 8:03 am and 8:09 am yesterday at a single-person public housing unit in Tak Long Estate, measuring about 150 square feet. The deceased was a 93-year-old local woman surnamed Kwan, who lived alone at the address. She was married, but her husband had passed away from illness about 30 years ago. She had chronic conditions including the "three highs," was diagnosed with colorectal cancer 17 years ago, and suffered a stroke more than two years ago, requiring long-term medication and follow-up consultations. Due to her health condition, doctors recommended that family arrange 24-hour round-the-clock care. Relatives therefore hired a domestic helper at the end of 2022. The helper, a 52-year-old foreign national, officially took up the post in January 2023 to care for the deceased.
At around 8:20 am yesterday, the helper went downstairs to seek assistance, saying the deceased was unresponsive and that she wanted to call an ambulance. Paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, administered first aid, and rushed her to hospital. The deceased was formally pronounced dead at 9:12 am yesterday. Police conducted a preliminary examination of the body and found no obvious fatal injuries. No signs of a struggle or ransacking were found in the residential unit.
It was not until the early hours of today that police retrieved relevant video footage and discovered that between 8:03 am and 8:10 am yesterday, the helper had assaulted the deceased multiple times. Over that short period, she intermittently struck the deceased's neck, head, and face with her bare hands about 20 times, and used her foot to press on the deceased's abdomen to move her body. As the deceased was in bed at the time, the arrested person was also quite rough when moving her. At around 8:10 am, the deceased was lying on the bed unresponsive. The arrested person attempted to give her water and pat her awake, without success, and then sought help to send the deceased to hospital.
After reviewing the footage, police took action at 3:50 am today, going to the unit to arrest the 52-year-old foreign domestic helper on suspicion of murder.
A preliminary forensic examination found two bruises on the deceased's chest, one bruise each on the lower abdomen and right abdomen, a bruise on the right side of the lower jaw, and an abrasion on the left side of the neck. However, no obvious fatal injuries were found on the body. The forensic pathologist will arrange an autopsy and tests later to further confirm the cause of death. The case is now being followed up by the Second Team of the Sau Mau Ping District Crime Unit, and the arrested person remains in custody.
As for the motive, preliminary investigations suggest that the arrested person and the deceased had long-standing friction, possibly due to the burdens of caregiving, leading to a poor relationship. Police retrieved audio recordings from the past half month and found that the arrested person had intermittently subjected the deceased to minor assaults during daily care. In addition, the deceased had no children, with individual relatives visiting about once a month. The Social Welfare Department also conducted regular visits to the deceased, but there was no record of similar incidents in the past.
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