A 48-year-old Hong Kong man has been charged with one count of ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of child after allegedly abandoning his disabled son in Singapore three years ago.
The man surnamed Chan was accused of taking the boy, then 11 years old, to Singapore on July 21, 2014, and leaving him there alone, Apple Daily reported.
The boy, who cannot hear or talk and is believed to be mentally disabled, was found wandering at night in Marina Promenade, a Singapore park.
Chan flew back alone to Hong Kong and was arrested in Ping Shek Estate in Kowloon on July 25, 2014.
The boy was taken back to Hong Kong accompanied by welfare department officials and schoolteachers. He is now 14 and has been attending a boarding school for children with learning difficulties in Aberdeen, Sing Tao Daily reported.
It is understood Chan had divorced the boy’s mother and then married the woman he had employed to take care of the child.
After taking three years to collect evidence, Hong Kong police officially charged Chan on Thursday, and the case will be mentioned at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Lawyer Albert Luk said that as the case happened in Singapore, it was reasonable for Hong Kong police to take three years to collect the required evidence.