Mainland HKUST student denies murder threat after 'incel' posts

A 20-year-old mainland Chinese student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) went on trial at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts on Wednesday (Jul 22), denying a charge of sending a letter threatening to murder, after allegedly posting messages online last April threatening to kill 10 people and describing a plan to stab dozens of fellow students on campus.

Du Maosen, represented by senior counsel, is accused of maliciously sending written content threatening to kill 10 people in Hong Kong on April 1, 2025. The case was heard before Magistrate Lau Suk-han.

The court was shown Du's cautioned video interview with police, in which he called himself an "incel" – involuntarily celibate – and described a plan to randomly stab 30 women and 30 men on campus on the semester's opening day, including "making sure 10 women die, because they deserve it." He told officers: "I read about the term 'incel' online. It matched my life, so I came up with the plan, but I never carried it out."

Du, who came to Hong Kong in 2023 to study computer science and artificial intelligence at HKUST, said he believed women were to blame for his remaining single at 20 and had not thought through how he would carry out the attack. He denied buying or possessing a knife, and said the posts, made on a Discord channel he moderated, stemmed from a moment of mental strain rather than genuine intent.

Police arrested Du at a residential unit in Hang Hau on April 8, 2025, after identifying him as the Discord user behind the alleged threats. The trial continues.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓