Couple face neglect charges after son swept into sea during Super Typhoon Ragasa
Five-year-old’s parents arrested in January after they took family to Hong Kong waterfront amid No 8 typhoon warning signal last September
Police revealed on Monday that the boy’s 40-year-old father, surnamed Yen, and 38-year-old mother, surnamed Li, were arrested in Chai Wan on January 6 and charged last Wednesday with ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person.
A charge sheet filed at Eastern Court on Tuesday alleged the couple “wilfully ill-treated or exposed” their son in a way likely to cause injury or unnecessary suffering.
As Ragasa raged on September 23 last year, the family of four, including a nine-year-old daughter, went to a breakwater at Ka Yip Street in Chai Wan to watch the waves while the No 8 typhoon warning signal was in force.
The woman and the boy were swept into the sea by waves, and the father jumped in to rescue them.
The unconscious mother and son were eventually rescued by a nearby boatman. They were later taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan, where they received treatment in the intensive care unit.