Bashes and cuts her, steals her cash

AN elderly Hong Kong woman tried to stop a young man from ending his life after a relationship break-up.



But instead of thanking her, the man, 26, responded by turning violent against the 72-year-old woman in public.

He allegedly tried to strangle the woman, who runs an ice cream and drink trolley in a park.

He also reportedly rained punches down on her and put a garbage bag over her head.

The man allegedly used a penknife to threaten and rob her of her earnings of HK$175 ($35), reported Oriental Daily.

He even cut off some of her hair by accident.

But he did not stop there.

Instead, according to reports, he sat down and watched the bloodied woman writhing in pain while he consumed ice cream and drinks from her cart.

The incident, which took place on Saturday at about 1pm, started when the woman saw him trying to kill himself because of a break-up with his girlfriend.


KIND WORDS, THEN...


The victim, who had been pushing her trolley nearby, approached him to try and convince him to stop.

She reportedly told him: 'Young man, life is precious.'

But the man got enraged and scolded her.



A short while later, he went up to her again and allegedly attacked her.

Three cyclists who witnessed the alleged beating told Oriental Daily that they hadn't intervened at first because they thought it was for a film shoot.

The attacker ran off only when a passerby saw the injured woman and the blood stains on the ground and went up to him.

He tried to flee, but was caught after a short chase.

He was arrested by the police for suspected robbery and assault.

The woman was sent to the hospital in a serious condition. She had to have several stitches for her injuries and for cuts on her face and head.

One of her sons said yesterday that her condition has stabilised.

The woman has reportedly been selling ice cream and drinks for more than 20 years.

She now sells her goods only on weekends to keep herself occupied as her children are all married with their own families. Her husband runs a factory.

The Association Against Elderly Abuse of Hong Kong has condemned the incident and described it as 'completely inhumane'.

It is urging the authorities to have in place tougher laws to protect the elderly from such abuse. It also wants them to step up education efforts on protecting them.

Source