Hong Kong police have been accused of mistreating an autistic man who was wrongfully accused of murder.
The 30-year-old was very publicly arrested on May 2 after a 73-year-old died following an alleged assault on a basketball court at Mei Lam Estate in Sha Tin on April 13.
During his 50-hour detention, the autistic man was not able to take his regular medication and did not have his needs met, his family claim.
Police initially laid a holding charge of manslaughter against the man, but released him days later after learning he has an alibi – he was staying at a Tuen Mun institute at the time.
Speaking to the SCMP, lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung said officers failed to recognise that the man was mentally disabled.
“They asked him a lot of yes-no questions like ‘did you go to the basketball court’, ‘did you see the elderly man’ and ‘did you push him’ … the problem is autistic people have the tendency to repeat what others say to them,” Cheung explained.
The man’s family has demanded an apology and called on the police to step up their training in such areas.
As if to illustrate the point that they do indeed need more training, a spokesman for the police said the 30-year-old could have asked to go to hospital if he felt unwell.
Photo: Eric Wong
