Indonesian woman remanded after pleading guilty to abandoning two-year-old child

A 43-year-old Indonesian woman pleaded guilty to child abuse and accepting illegal employment while overstaying her visa at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court on Monday (March 24).

The court previously heard that a two-year-old girl was found wandering alone at Sai Yee Street Children's Playground in June last year, with police subsequently arresting the child's 31-year-old mother and her Indonesian acquaintance - the 43-year-old woman.

According to court documents, the girl's mother, unemployed at the time of her arrest, had sought someone to take care of her daughter and, hence, hired the defendant through an intermediary. However, five days later, the defendant failed to reach the child's mother for payment and left the child with the intermediary.

Apart from the two charges, the defendant originally faced an additional charge of ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of child or young person, which was later dropped by the prosecution.

Magistrate Li Chi-ho has adjourned the case to April 24 and she will remain in custody until then.