By Vir B. Lumicao
A Filipina domestic helper suspected of aborting
her baby in a grocery shop in Taipo on Sunday is in police custody waiting to
be charged, the Police Public Relations Bureau said.
A PPRB officer said the Filipina he referred to as “Mae” is
believed to have induced the abortion by taking abortion pills.
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| Fu Shin Street in Tai Po |
The incident happened in a shop at 43 Fu Shin Street in Taipo at about
10.35 on Sunday morning, the officer told The SUN.
The case comes just two months after another Filipina domestic helper was jailed for 14 months for aborting her eight-month-old baby and dumping it in a rubbish bin in North Point.
The PPRB spokesperson said a 59 year-old female shop staff had called to ask for assistance, saying the Filipina was not feeling well. Officers who arrived at the scene
found an embryo or foetus in the toilet.
“After initial investigation, the woman was suspected to
have given birth to the embryo and the police seized some medicine suspected to
be abortion pills,” the PPRB officer said.
She said Mae was arrested “for self-administering and trying
to procure abortion”.
The case was being followed up by the District Investigation
Team of Taipo, the duty officer said.
Reports on local news portals said Mae and the fetus, which
was estimated by investigators to be 19 weeks old, were found by the store
staff who responded after hearing screams from inside the toilet.
The Filipina was taken to the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital
The maid’s employer was already contacted by police,
according to the reports.
Many pregnant domestic helpers resort to abortion for fear
of losing their jobs. Hong Kong labor laws
protect them from illegal job termination, but despite this, there have been
several cases of maids being fired after their employers learned about their
situation.
A local NGO, PathFinders, has been helping pregnant foreign
maids who are in a desperate situation because of their pregnancy.
The group offers a full range of assistance, from legal
protection for the mother and the child, to medical aid, registration of birth,
and repatriation of the mother and her baby.
Female foreign workers with similar problems as Mae should
call the PathFinders hotline, +852 5190 4886, for assistance from 9am to
9pm.
