Two Filipinos commit suicide in HK
Consul Paul Saret
TWO Filipinos—a Hong Kong resident and a domestic worker—committed suicide in the last three weeks, according to the Hong Kong Police.
The police said the first case involved a Filipino man, aged 41, who reportedly jumped off the 13th floor of a housing estate in Mui Wo while the other was the domestic worker who allegedly hanged herself in Sheung Shui.
A police spokeswoman said the initial investigation into both cases showed “no suspicious circumstances.”
She said the first incident happened at around 9:59 p.m. on July 28 at the Ngan Yat House, Ngan Wan Estate in Lantau South.
“The security (guard) of the estate, a 59-year-old male, reported that the subject, a 41-year-old man identified, was found lying on the ground,” the spokeswoman said.
“The subject was believed to have fallen from height,” she added.
The police spokeswoman said the victim was brought to the Mui Wo clinic but was declared dead at around 11:10 p.m.
“No (suicide) note was found but the subject was reportedly not happy about his work,” the police spokeswoman said.
The victim was a long-time Hong Kong resident and had a wife and two children.
The second case involved a Filipino domestic worker who allegedly hanged herself inside the toilet of her employer’s luxury villa in Sheung Shui at around 8:11 am. on August 1.
She eventually died on August 8 at the North District Hospital after her husband, who had flown in all the way from the Philippines, consented to have her taken off life support.
The Filipino worker had been comatosed since she was brought to the hospital, where she showed signs of multiple organ failure. Doctors declared her “brain dead” on August 6.
Consul Paul Saret, head of the Philippine Consulate General-Assistance to Nationals Section, said an autopsy would be conducted while her family asked for a thorough investigation to determine if there was any foul play involved.
A police spokesman earlier said that worker hanged herself inside the toilet of her employer’s home in Sheung Shui but her 39-year-old male employer found her. According to local media reports, the worker’s employer was calling for the worker but got no reply inside his luxury villa at The Green along Fan Kam Road, Sheung Shui.
When he checked the toilet, he discovered that the domestic worker had hanged herself using “some electric cables,” the police spokesman said.
For those who feel that life no longer has any meaning, there are people in the The Samaritans (Hotline 2896-0000) and the Suicide Prevention Services (23820000) who are ready to help and listen.