Mainland Chinese mum left boy at Hong Kong hospital in hopes he could obtain ‘better education’ in city
Hong Kong police contacted Chen Healton’s mother in Henan province over the weekend, source says, after 12-year-old left at Kwong Wah Hospital ‘A preliminary investigation suggested the mother wanted her son to study in Hong Kong to receive a better education,’ he adds
The force added that its investigation had found the mother and son had crossed the border via the high-speed railway last Tuesday and checked into a guest house on Yau Ma Tei’s Jordan Road.
She later took the boy to hospital at around 5am on Friday and told staff he had a cough and diarrhoea.
“She had asked the boy to tell the nurse after his consultation that he was abandoned, and then she left him alone in the ward,” the source said.
Chen told a nurse at around midday that his mother had left him there, prompting the hospital to report the incident to police.
Chen was abandoned at Kwong Wah Hospital on Friday. Photo: Warton Li
The force has classified the case as child abuse and neglect of a minor. Detectives from the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit are following up on the case.
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The source said Chen’s mother had returned to Henan province after visiting Hong Kong. The force’s liaison bureau had sought help from mainland police to locate her and other family members to find out why she abandoned her son, he added.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Sunday warned Chen’s parents they could face legal consequences for abandoning the boy, adding that local authorities were currently taking care of him.
“These incidents do not only make people feel very uncomfortable, they are also extremely inappropriate,” the city’s leader said before departing on a trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
