A mainland university student charged with public indecency for having sex on a Hong Kong street side pleaded guilty in court on Thursday.

The 18-year-old Polytechnic University student initially denied the charge but changed her plea after two hours. She returned to the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts, pleaded guilty and told the judge that she deeply regrets what she did.

Her and another mainland student were found having sex on Fat Kwong Street, Ho Man Tin near their dormitories at PolyU in the early hours of April 1. Videos and pictures taken by passers-by showed they took off much of their clothes. A university security guard alerted police at 4:10am after failing to get the couple’s attention.

mainland students street sex
Two mainland students were found having sex on the street on 1 April.

Police later said the couple were affected by alcohol.

The male student, 19, turned himself in to police the next day while the girl flew back to her home in Beijing after videos and photographs of their curbside copulation went viral. She returned to Hong Kong to turn herself in about a week later.

The case was adjourned to 8 July and she was released on bail pending community service orders and probation reports.

Photo: Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Vivienne Zeng is a journalist from China with three years' experience covering Hong Kong and mainland affairs. She has an MA in journalism from the University of Hong Kong. Her work has been featured on outlets such as Al Jazeera+ and MSNBC.