The police will look into whether the parents of a 12-year-old boy abandoned at a Hong Kong hospital will face legal consequences, Chief Executive John Lee said on Sunday, adding that the incident was “making people feel uncomfortable.”
The city’s leader said parents should not abandon their children, as the act could traumatise them both physically and mentally. Urging the boy’s parents to come back and pick him up, Lee added that the authorities would not tolerate any similar event in the future.
The boy, who was in a healthy condition, is currently being taken care of by the city’s Children and Juvenile Home, according to Lee.
On Friday, the police received a report at 12:40 pm that the boy was seen wandering around the emergency room at Kwong Wah Hospital wearing a dark blue polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. No bruises or scars were found on him.
The police issued a statement on the next day, urging the family of the boy to reach out. On the same night, the police announced that they have made contact with the boy’s mother, listing the case under the charge “ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of child.”
No arrests have been made thus far, the police said on Saturday.
Citing sources, several local media outlets reported that the mother, who came to Hong Kong from the mainland, said she abandoned the boy in order to provide him with “decent education.”
The mother reportedly instructed her son to tell nurses that he was “abandoned by his mother” after claiming to the hospital that the boy was experiencing diarrhoea and coughing. She then left the city and went back to the mainland, according to local media reports.
After some negotiation, the mother has agreed to come back Hong Kong and pick up her son without specifying the date, according to local media.
According to the Offences against the Person Ordinance, individuals who are responsible for any child under 16 and intentionally assault, mistreat, neglect, abandon, or subject such a child to harmful conditions may face a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Update 2:30pm: This report was updated to remove a picture of the child shared by the police, now that the mother has reportedly been identified. The update was made in accordance with HKFP’s Ethics Code.
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