Hong Kong police have charged a 50-year-old woman with murder after a scuffle with another female passenger on board a minibus escalated into a fatal brawl when they alighted.
Officers received a report at 10.30pm on Tuesday that two women were fighting at the minibus stop outside Wah Chui House at Wah Fu (II) Estate in Aberdeen, Senior Superintendent Hui Hong-kit, assistant Western district commander for crime, said on Thursday.
When officers arrived at the scene, the 53-year-old victim was found unconscious on the ground. She was taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, where she was pronounced dead at 11.22pm.
Hui said the pair were not acquainted, and their dispute began when the victim stepped on the suspect’s foot as they prepared to get off at the minibus stop.
“The victim accidentally stepped on the suspect, and then the arrestee stepped on the victim,” he said.
“They then started pushing and shoving each other on the minibus. The scuffle later continued on the pavement at the minibus stop.”
Hui said the fight lasted several minutes, with the suspect kneeling on the victim’s abdomen and strangling her for two to three minutes. The victim later lost consciousness and had bruises on her neck, as well as scratches on her hands and face, he added.
Hui said officers arrested the suspect at 10.42pm when she returned to the scene and admitted fighting with the victim.
The woman has been charged with murder and is due to appear at Eastern Court on Friday morning.
A source said that the incident occurred on minibus route 63A from Aberdeen Centre to Wah Fu (II) Estate.
According to the source, the argument escalated after the victim kicked the suspect’s foot a second time on board the minibus.
When the vehicle stopped, the victim dragged the other woman out of the door, and the suspect allegedly tried to kick her, the insider said.
“The arrestee was agitated. She pressed the victim onto the ground, knelt on her abdomen and strangled her for several minutes,” the source said.
A 25-year-old man called police when the victim lost consciousness, the insider added.
Hui said that the victim had a history of mental illness. He said the fight was witnessed by other passengers and passers-by, but no one intervened.
The force’s Western district crime squad has taken over the case, reclassifying it from fighting in a public place to murder.
Hui urged anyone who witnessed the crime to contact police and provide further information. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
