Customs officer faces rape charge over drunk Swede

Wallis Wang

A 28-year-old Customs and Excise Department officer yesterday appeared in a Eastern magistrate's court for allegedly raping a drunk Swedish tourist on Friday in a Wan Chai hotel.

Li Kin-on was charged with one count of rape and he was not required to enter plea.

Li was accused of raping the woman, referred to as X in court, in a room at Ming Court Hotel on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai on Friday.

Magistrate Minnie Wat Lai-man yesterday rejected Li's bail application and remanded him in custody.

She also adjourned the case to January 15 for further police investigations, as the prosecution requested an eight-week period to gather evidence.

The prosecution said officers would check surveillance camera footage, look for other witnesses and take statements from them, conduct forensic examinations and examine Li's mobile phone.

The defense did not object to the adjournment of the case but applied for bail for Li, which was rejected.

According to the Crimes Ordinance, a man who rapes a woman could be punished with life imprisonment.

The police on Sunday said officers received a report from a foreign woman on Friday, saying she was taken to a Wan Chai hotel by a local man at around 6.30 am and raped when she was drunk.

Officers from the Wan Chai district crime unit then began investigations which led to the arrest of a male suspect on Saturday.