An alert domestic worker appears to have helped prevent the abduction of her Hong Kong employer’s child by a local woman in a playground in Sha Tin, New Territories, on Wednesday.
That afternoon, the child went with the maid to the Sha Kok Estate garden after classes in the Salvation Army Tin Ka Ping Kindergarten, Sing Pao reported. A woman, 50, tried to take the child away, claiming that she was the grandmother. She told the child, “Your parents are waiting for you at home.”
The maid held the child back and told the stranger, “We don’t know you” and “You are not po po” (grandma) in Cantonese, Apple Daily reported. She and the child went home safely, although they were followed by the woman.
The domestic helper reported the incident to her employer, who informed the kindergarten on Thursday, but did not report it to the police to avoid trouble.
The kindergarten alerted parents in a notice about possible kidnapping attempts. A district councilor saw the notice and called the police, who began investigating.
The reports did not disclose the nationality of the domestic worker.