A 36-year-old Indonesian man has been sentenced to five years and four months in jail for assaulting his ex-girlfriend with corrosive fluid two years ago, resulting in multiple second-degree burns on her back.
The defendant, Rusadi Didi, has been staying in Hong Kong as a non-refoulement claimant and started a relationship with an Indonesian woman after meeting her on Facebook.
Their relationship lasted nearly a year before ending in 2023, which the defendant struggled to accept. He suspected she had begun dating someone else.
On 17 February 2023, the man threw a highly concentrated corrosive fluid on her in Yuen Long, leading to second-degree burns on her back. He also slapped and pushed her during the incident.
The defendant pleaded guilty to counts of “throwing corrosive fluid with intent to do grievous bodily harm” and “common assault”.
High Court Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong, citing psychology reports, noted the defendant has poor social skills and problem-solving abilities, weak emotional awareness and did not consider the consequences of his actions.
However, it concluded that he posed a low risk of reoffending and did not require psychiatric treatment.
Yau said that sentencing for the offense of throwing corrosive fluid must serve as a deterrent. The defendant had premeditated the attack, targeting the victim’s vulnerable neck, which was close to her head, therefore warranting an increased sentence.
Fortunately, when the victim was splashed with corrosive fluid, the bottle contained a limited amount and it did not hit her face. She was able to immediately go to the bathroom to dilute the fluid and was discharged from the hospital after two days, indicating her injuries were relatively minor.
He added that the defendant committed the crime in a public space, posing a risk to other pedestrians and further compounded his actions by confiscating the victim’s phone to prevent her from calling the police, which was despicable and increased the penalties.
Considering the defendant’s low risk of reoffending, Yau set a starting point of seven years’ imprisonment for “throwing corrosive fluid with intent to do grievous bodily harm”. An additional year was added as the defendant was holding a recognizance form.
The sentence for common assault was increased to 30 days. After accounting for his guilty plea, the sentence for both charges will run concurrently, resulting in five years and four months imprisonment.
