A Hong Kong court yesterday heard that a hospital administrator repeatedly pursued and groped a female subordinate in the workplace, and at one point tried to win her over with gifts of honey and eczema cream.
Wong Chun-yang, 40, pleaded not guilty to four counts of indecent assault against his colleague — referred to in court as X — which reportedly took place at the hospital where they both worked from March of 2017 to April of last year.
Ming Pao reported that Wong appeared at Fanling Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning, while X gave evidence via video link.
The court heard that X works as a clerk at the Prince of Wales Hospital’s day clinic in Sha Tin, and that Wong was the boss of her immediate superior.
She told the court that the first incident, which happened on March 30, 2017, she was bent over her computer at work when she felt Wong touch her left thigh with his right hand for about two seconds. One month later, when Wong was working at a computer, he put his hands on X’s waist and invited her to sit down.
In August of 2017, X told the court that the two were in an office alone when Wong grabbed her waist from behind and opened her shirt before forcibly pulling down her pants and panties and touching her genitals.
X told the court she managed to fight Wong off and yelled for help for about 30 seconds, Apple Daily reports.
Wong allegedly begged X to stop yelling, apologized, and asked her not to tell anyone what had happened.
That appeared to be the end of it until April of last year, when X received a phone call from Wong saying, “I have something for you; it’s a secret. Come by my office.”
X declined, but when she arrived at work on April 30, Wong pulled her into his office, locked the door, and forced himself upon her once more, kissing her cheeks and neck, and said, “I really like you, do you have a boyfriend?”
X fought back and told him that, yes, she had a boyfriend, and that she didn’t like Wong.
Wong then presented her with two gifts, which turned out to be a jar of honey and a tube of eczema cream, and told her he was divorced, adding: “I won’t make your life difficult, you better not make my life difficult. I can see two women at the same time.”
X said she responded by saying: “I mind, I only like my boyfriend.”
She left the office and told her supervisor what had happened, but according to Apple Daily, police weren’t called immediately because the supervisor was concerned there wasn’t enough evidence. X’s supervisor allowed her to call the police two weeks later.
During cross-examination from the defense, lawyers representing Wong asked X if she had invited herself into Wong’s office and sat on his lap. X denied this, prompting the defense to tell the court they had video evidence suggesting otherwise.
The defense counsel told the court that the video, which was secretly filmed by Wong, shows X going into his office and sitting on his lap.
The prosecution said they were not aware of the video, and magistrate Debbie Ng Chung-yee adjourned for the day to allow both teams to watch the video and decide whether or not to admit it into evidence.
The trial is expected to resume today.
