Dead teenager’s parents arrested
Print Edition
The parents of a teenager who fell to her death from an apartment block in Hong Kong have been arrested.
Police said there was “no suspicious element” in the 15-year-old girl’s fatal fall, but arrested her British father and Filipina mother on suspicion of “ill-treatment or neglect of a child or a young person.”
The teenager fell from the 21-story apartment block in Repulse Bay in the early hours of Tuesday morning, police said.
Her father, 58-year-old Nick Cousins, is managing director of the Hong Kong office of British multinational insurance brokers Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
The girl’s mother is a 53-year-old former helper from the Philippines, according to local media.
Cousins has been released on bail while his partner is still in custody, police said.
The mother is also accused of overstaying her visa, while Cousins is accused of aiding or abetting the overstay.
The couple are not married, police said.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson confirmed that Cousins had lost his eldest daughter “in tragic circumstances.”
“We are giving Nick our full support through this difficult time and he will be on extended compassionate leave until further notice,” a statement said. It added that the company was aware that authorities were investigating “a number of matters” following the teenager’s death.
“As these are private matters, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further and we would ask that the family’s privacy is respected,” the statement said.
Police said that the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene after a security guard heard a loud noise and she was found lying on the ground.
“It was suspected that the subject fell from a height,” police said without confirming which floor.
“We learned that the subject was probably upset about some daily life issues,” police said.
Local media reported that she had locked herself in a bathroom before her death.
The South China Morning Post, citing a police source, said that the 15-year-old and her younger sister had been educated at a private tutorial center and had never gone to school. Their births had also never been registered, the report said.
It said their mother had been working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong since 1990 and had been living with Cousins since 1994.
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