Police Arrest Helper Over Toddler’s Severe Hand Burns
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A suspected child abuse case in Yuen Long has led to the arrest of a 30-year-old Indonesian domestic helper after a 23-month-old girl suffered extensive burns to both hands. The incident happened around noon two days ago at a village house in Ha Mei San Tsuen, where the helper was caring for the girl and her three-year-old brother. Police said the woman has been provisionally charged with one count of ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person, and the case was due to be mentioned at Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Courts today. The girl’s mother alleged online that surveillance footage showed the helper taking her daughter into a bathroom and that the child emerged with injuries consistent with scalding, while also having bruising on her forehead.
Key Points
- The mother said the helper, who started work on March 30, had been employed for more than four months to care for the couple’s two young children
- She said the helper informed her yesterday afternoon that the girl had been scalded, but the child’s wounds looked unusually neat and severe, with skin already stripped away
- After reviewing home CCTV, the mother said the helper entered the bathroom with the girl, later fetched ice from the kitchen at 2:58pm, but only notified her at 3:18pm
- The mother said the helper first claimed she had been cooking and the child touched a pot, but footage allegedly showed she had not been cooking at all
- According to the mother and police inquiries, the helper later gave other versions involving bathroom tap water and warm water in a sink before her arrest by Yuen Long district investigators
Why It Matters
The case is likely to draw attention among Hong Kong families who rely on live-in domestic helpers for childcare, especially in dual-income households like the girl’s family. It also underlines how home surveillance footage can become central evidence when caregivers and parents give sharply different accounts of how a young child was injured.