Wrongful arrest of autistic man shows nothing has changed, says mother of Hong Kong boy lost in Shenzhen in 2000
The mother of an autistic teenager whose disappearance 15 years ago sparked a public outcry and paved the way for strict new guidelines on police handling of special needs cases, says the recent wrongful arrest of an autistic man proves nothing has changed.
The mother of an autistic teenager whose disappearance 15 years ago sparked a public outcry and paved the way for strict new guidelines on police handling of special needs cases, says the recent wrongful arrest of an autistic man proves nothing has changed.
In 2000, Yu Lai Wai-ling's son, Yu Man-hon, found his way to the Lo Wu border, where Hong Kong officials mistakenly took him to be an illegal immigrant and cut him loose on the streets of Shenzhen. He was never seen or heard from again.
She says the mistaken arrest and detention of a 30-year-old autistic man, in connection with the killing of a 73-year-old man in Sha Tin, exposes the promises of reform as hollow.
The man was arrested on May 2 and held under a police holding charge before being released two days later after CCTV footage placed him elsewhere at the time of the crime. The killer of the pensioner remains at large.
I’m very angry… It shows nothing has changed since [Man-hon was lost]
Yu - whose son was 15 but had a mental age of two when he vanished - said yesterday: "I'm very angry… Even though the case is not directly related to me, it shows police still don't know how to handle those who have intellectual disabilities and trouble expressing themselves.
"News reports said the police will review their procedures - that's what they said when Man-hon was lost. Nothing has changed since then."
