A 34-year-old Hong Kong woman was arrested by the police on Thursday evening on suspicion of child abuse after she left a three-month-old baby girl with a van driver that she hired.
At 8:30am, the woman surnamed Yu, who was holding a baby girl, hired a van and travelled from Tseung Kwan O to Tsim Sha Tsui, Sing Pao reported. She asked the 29-year-old driver surnamed So to drive her to several places, including Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan, during the day.
At around 5pm, she got out of the vehicle at 23 Ashley Road and passed the baby to So, explaining that she had to get some cash to pay the fare, Apple Daily reported.
After an hour she had not returned and the driver, unable to contact Yu, called the police. They sent the baby to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a check-up.
At around 9pm, officers arrested Yu on Cameron Road in Tsim Sha Tsui but she denied that she had abandoned the baby.
Police classed the case as “ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person”. They were still investigating the matter.