Couple blamed other son for 7-week-old boy’s death, Hong Kong court hears

A couple accused of murdering their seven-week-old son tried to shift blame to their other child when questioned by Hong Kong police over the infant’s rib fractures and bleeding under the skull, a court has heard.

Imran Hossain, 32, and wife Farzana Akter, 29, appeared at the High Court on Tuesday over the death of their newborn, Iyman Hossain. The boy died in hospital six days after he lost consciousness in the family’s subdivided Sham Shui Po flat in 2019.

The unemployed couple, both Hong Kong residents, have pleaded not guilty to a joint count of murder and another of child cruelty.

Prosecutor Human Lam Hiu-man told a seven-member jury in her opening statements that evidence showed the infant could not have been assaulted by his brother, who was nearly two years old at the time, given the strength needed to inflict the injuries.

Hospital doctors contacted police after noticing bruises on Iyman’s cheeks and forehead, with scratches over a nostril and spots of bleeding on his nasal bridge.

Upon medical examination, multiple thigh and rib fractures were found. The child’s right first rib was broken to a level of severity that was typically seen in a car crash or a fall from a great height.