‘Hong Kong woman accused of killing mother and brother acted under mental stress’

A woman accused of killing her mother and younger brother before attempting suicide is believed to have acted under mental stress, Hong Kong police have said, while the government is facing mounting pressure to rapidly expand its carer services.

Welfare groups on Tuesday urged authorities to widen their database and related services to cover more types of high-risk carers across all of the city’s 18 districts, a day after a 52-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murdering her mother and younger brother in a flat in Cheung Sha Wan.

The woman was found sitting at the edge of the building’s roof, before emergency services pulled her to safety.

“The suspect has a history of mental illness and had shared her suicidal thoughts recently. We believe she murdered the victims because of mental stress and then attempted suicide,” said Cheng Ki-fung, assistant district commander for crime at the force’s Sham Shui Po district.

He added that the woman’s brother was a care-home resident, but he had been absent for three weeks. A social worker, who was conducting a home visit because of the man’s absence, discovered the body of the 47-year-old on Monday.

Authorities received a report that the man had been found in the flat in Hang Moon Building on Cheung Sha Wan Road.