Hong Kong student who accused police of sexual violence against protesters has taken legal advice and plans further action
- Chinese University student Sonia Ng removes mask at forum and alleges that police subjected her and others to sexual violence
- She had previously alleged anonymously that a policeman hit her breasts while she was being detained
A university student who unmasked herself while accusing Hong Kong police of sexual violence sought legal advice on Friday, the Post learned, as the force announced it was investigating her allegations.
In an emotional speech at a packed Chinese University forum on Thursday night, Sonia Ng removed her face mask and alleged that police had subjected her and other women arrested during the protests to sexual violence.
She had previously alleged anonymously that a policeman hit her breasts while she was being detained last month. Two female officers also watched her while she was in the toilet, she said.
While meeting her lawyers on Friday, Ng told the Post: “I will take further action later.”
At the campus forum, she confronted university vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi and urged him to issue a statement to condemn police violence.
She told Tuan she was speaking for herself and on behalf of other protesters.
“Do you know the moment we were arrested … we had to go wherever police told us to, to a dark room to take off our clothes?” Ng said.
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“Do you know the body search room in San Uk Ling [Holding Centre] is all dark? Do you know I am not the only one who was subjected to sexual violence?”
The remote, long-abandoned San Uk Ling detention centre reopened in August to deal with mass arrests from the ongoing anti-government protests but was recently closed again after allegations of police abuse.
However, in a radio show on Friday morning, Ng clarified she was not assaulted at the centre.
She alleged the sexual assault took place at Kwai Chung Police Station after her arrest at Prince Edward MTR station on the night of August 31. She was taken to San Uk Ling the same night.
Ng also said she previously spoke of the assault under the alias “Miss Lung” when she met the press, her face covered, with pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching.
After Ng’s forum speech, police released a statement on Thursday night, vowing to “accord high priority to such a serious allegation” and to “proactively contact the female”.
On Friday afternoon, the force announced its Complaints Against Police Office (Capo) had launched an investigation. But it said it had not been able to contact Ng.
“We appeal to the female to provide concrete evidence so we can proceed with a fair fact-finding investigation,” police wrote in a Facebook post.
At a regular press conference on Friday, police said they did not investigate the case earlier because they did not know the person’s real identity.
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Ng unmasking herself was a “turning point” and the force would investigate, a spokesman said.
But he added they would not be able to look into other online anonymous claims about gang rapes because they did not have details.
A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), the watchdog that Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has commissioned to look into the force’s actions during the months-long protests, noted Ng’s complaint.
“The IPCC expresses earnest concern over this serious allegation,” he said, urging Ng and others who had similar experiences to file complaints with Capo.
The IPCC visited San Uk Ling on Tuesday and would review the centre’s handling procedures based on detention records and police’s deployment.
Ng said all these pledges to investigate were no reassurance.
“I don’t believe in Capo. I don’t believe in the IPCC. You are investigated by your own people. Your integrity is incredibly low,” she said.
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She urged Lam to set up an independent commission of inquiry into police actions as protesters had demanded.
“Once that is set up, I am willing to be the first one to offer my full cooperation,” she said.
The student also said she had received an influx of calls from mainland China after the release of the police statement on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, a group of alumni from Carmel Secondary School, which Ng had attended, issued a statement in support of her, urging teachers and principals to stand by students who might have shared the same experience.
More than 18,000 CUHK staff, teachers, students and alumni had signed a petition, titled “Sonia, We Stand With You”, as of 6.15pm on Friday.
Additional reporting by Karen Zhang
