Mom 'admits' to killing three young daughters

A mother has been arrested on suspicion of murder and has allegedly confessed to suffocating her three young daughters with a pillow in their subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po.

Police yesterday said the suspect, 29, has no history of mental illness. Unverified reports claimed she suffered from post-natal depression.

The woman, of Indian ethnicity, earlier told police her husband, a Pakistani, killed their three daughters with a knife.

But the force said the woman later admitted she had killed the girls - aged two to five - after doctors at Caritas Medical Centre could not find any apparent injuries.

The doctors believed the girls died from suffocation instead.

It was shortly after 11am that officers broke into a locked bedroom of a 200-square-foot flat at 115 Kweilin Street and found the girls lying unconsciously on a bed.

They were rushed to Caritas Medical Centre, where they were pronounced dead.

The mother, handcuffed and covered with a black hood, was led to a police vehicle around 3pm.

Investigators also removed several pillows and bedsheets from the room.

Blood stains could reportedly be seen on one of the pillows and in the mouth and nose of one of the girls. Superintendent Alan Chung Nga-lun of the Kowloon West regional crime unit alleged that the woman suffocated her three daughters with a pillow in the morning and called her mother that she had killed them.

The woman's younger brother called police after finding the flat was locked.

The victims were identified as Bibi, two, Raina, four, and Aayat, five. The family moved to the address 11 months ago and lived on social welfare.

Chung said the tragedy may be due to marital problems as the woman and her husband had been separated for a while due to a third party

"We do not rule out the possibility that the suspect did not want her daughters to be taken care of by others. All these will be included in our investigation," he said.

The woman was said to have been acting abnormally and speaking incoherently when she had dinner with her mother, younger brother and her three daughters on Sunday night. No drugs were found in the flat.

The Social Welfare Department said the family had been on file as an active case at the Integrated Family Service Centre. But Chung said the case was closed at the end of last year.

The girls' father later arrived at the scene to help with police investigation.

"So far from our investigation we have not found any evidence suggesting they had an argument in the morning or recently. We believe the father has not been in touch with the suspect and his children for quite a while," Chung said

The sister of the husband said the couple had been separated for a year and were battling for custody of the children. The man is now living with his mother.

"My brother [was fighting] for custody and we're waiting for the court [decision]," she said.

A hawker surnamed Wong said it was heart-wrenching to see the motionless young faces.

The Social Welfare Department said it is "highly concerned" about the case and set up a counter outside the MTR's Sham Shui Po station to assist those in need. A 24-hour counseling hotline 2343-2255 was also opened.

The Hospital Authority also said people can call its 24-hour mental health hotline at 2466-7350 without an appointment.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki urged parents in to seek help. He added: "We hope to try our best, with our community care teams as well as support to the ethnic minorities, to prevent these tragedies from happening."

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said authorities will hold community talks over the next few days.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com

+1