Hong Kong parents vow to be more vigilant after 3-year-old snatched in alleged HK$5.1 million ransom plot
Parents near a Hong Kong shopping centre where a three-year-old boy was snatched in broad daylight for what was said to be an HK$5.1 million ransom said the incident had left them fearful and determined to keep a close eye on their own children.
Parents who live near TKO Plaza in Tseung Kwan O, the scene of Wednesday’s abduction, told the Post they were shocked by the news and that they had never heard of a similar case in the city before.
Ke Jinyi, a 29-year-old mother who said she often took her nine-month-old boy to TKO Plaza, said on Thursday that she would be more cautious because of the incident.
“As far as I know, Hong Kong has never had such a case before,” Ke said.
She added that the city’s reputation for safety could cause parents to drop their guard.
“Parents could be less vigilant in a safe society like Hong Kong,” Ke suggested.
She added that the shopping centre should install extra CCTV cameras to reduce the risk of further abductions.
A 70-year-old woman, who identified herself only by the surname Ling, said she would never leave her five-year-old grandson alone in public.
“I have to ask his parents to be more alert in the future,” she said.
But a 36-year-old mother, who took her six-year-old son to TKO Plaza a day after the kidnapping, said she was not worried.
“The chance [of being abducted] is very low in Hong Kong,” said the woman, who gave only the surname Gong. “But you need to keep an eye on your children all the time when in some places like shopping malls.”
The parents were speaking after police rescued the kidnapped boy from a flat in Tseung Kwan O about 12 hours after he was taken.
The child had been hidden in a stroller then stuffed into a suitcase by his captors.
Two women, one from mainland China with a two-way permit, were arrested by police in connection with the incident.
The boy was with his mother, family members and other children when he was snatched.
An image captured from surveillance camera footage of the abduction, contact information of the suspects, a ransom note, and screenshots of conversations with the kidnappers over the money, went viral on LIHKG, an online Reddit-like forum.
Some users claimed to have sent messages to the suspect through the messaging service Telegram.
The news made LIHKG take down the contact information and the screenshots and it appealed to users to stop posting the details on humanitarian grounds.
Some comments that exposed sensitive information were also removed, and some users were temporarily banned. But the comments were restored about noon on Thursday.
The information was also posted on Facebook, but was taken down for violating community guidelines.
Chief Superintendent Kwan King-pan of the organised crime and triad bureau said the information circulated online had not hindered police.
“There is a free flow of information in Hong Kong – it’s common for people to search for a missing person or object online, and netizens will often respond actively,” he said on Thursday.
“This scenario also happened in this case, but it did not affect our investigation.
“Now we will focus on investigating the two women arrested to uncover more evidence.”
