No note left as boy, 14, 'hangs himself' in toilet at home

Staff reporter

A 14-year-old boy hanged himself with a one-meter-long towel in the toilet at his Tsing Yi public housing home, police said.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances over the boy's death and believed it was suicide. No death note was found.

Sources at the scene said the teenager, a secondary two student, lived with his grandfather and did not have any record of emotional disorder. Nor was he suicidal, argumentative or emotionally unstable.

"The boy's parents were not married. The mother immediately returned to the mainland after giving birth to him and they were never in contact since then," sources said.

At around 10.20am yesterday, the boy's 75-year-old grandfather asked the boy if he wanted to have breakfast with him downstairs but the boy said he was not interested, according to the police.

The grandfather therefore went for breakfast by himself.

Upon returning to the flat, after less than an hour, he could not find the boy and noticed a closed bathroom door and thought the boy was using the toilet. But after a 20-minute wait, the grandfather could not hear any noise and opened the bathroom door.

He found that the boy hanging naked with a one-meter-long towel - used to hang bath curtains - tied to the pole.

He immediately carried the boy to the sofa and called the police, who rushed him to Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan, where he was certified dead after an hour.

Sources at the scene said the boy was addicted to mobile phone games, although his academic results were not bad.

"He also did not argue with his grandfather or tell his grandfather that he was unhappy. Officers also did not find any death note at the scene," sources said.

It is understood that, as the boy was about to take a bath, he "experienced a lapse in judgment" and hanged himself while naked. Foul play is not suspected.

Paul Yip Siu-fai, director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, said the number of students committing suicide had doubled in the past three months compared to last year.

Twenty-two students, including those under 18 and university students, committed suicide from August to October. He said the pandemic significantly affected the mental health of teenagers.

"Classes were conducted online from time to time, which brought negative effects to their relationships with peers and teachers."

He added that there was a lag between the pandemic and when the mental problems gradually emerge.

"Negative feelings pile up and there were fewer chances for them to relieve their emotion due to the pandemic," Yip said, as many schools failed to assist students with their mental health issues during the pandemic.

Charlie Chan Wai-leung, head of the youth and community service at Caritas Hong Kong, said academic pressure was the main problem that students were facing in suicide cases that were evaluated as high-risk.

He suggested schools relieve students from academic pressure.