The Hong Kong government conducted
on Nov 13 its own autopsy on the remains of Lorain Asuncion, the 28-year-old Filipina
domestic helper who fell to her death in Shenzhen in late July.
The decision to perform its own forensic examination of the
maid’s body was made by the government two days before Asuncion ’s remains were to have been flown
home on Nov 12, an officer of the Consulate’s assistance to nationals section
told The SUN in a telephone inquiry.
The new autopsy was the third such procedure performed on
Asuncion since she was reported to have plunged to her death from the 22nd
floor window of the flat of her female employer’s father in Longgang District,
Shenzhen on July 23 or 24.
She arrived there on July 22 supposedly to join her
employers’ family, who went to spend their summer vacation on the mainland but
were elsewhere when the tragedy happened.
Two previous autopsies performed separately by the Shenzhen
police and a private forensic expert both ruled out foul play.
Danny Baldon, the ATN officer who has been liaising with the
police since the remains of Asuncion ,
single, arrived in Hong Kong on the evening
of Nov 9, said the autopsy is a standard requirement for bodies that are in
transit here to their final destination.
He said he would try to arrange a public viewing for friends
and supporters of the deceased OFW before she would be finally flown home.
The remains were taken directly to the Fushan Public
Mortuary in Taiwai, Shatin, where the autopsy was conducted.
The original plan by her recruitment agency in Hong Kong,
Sunlight Employment Agency, was for the cadaver to be taken to Universal
Funeral Parlour in Hung Hom before her onward flight to Manila last Sunday, Baldon said.
He said the remains were already booked on Philippine
Airlines flight PR301, but the surprise decision to do a new autopsy would now call
for Asuncion ’s repatriation
to be rescheduled.
Baldon said Asuncion 's family
had been informed of the decision to conduct another autopsy, and that an aunt
of hers who works in Hong Kong gave her
consent to the autopsy on Nov 10.
In Manila , the sister of Asuncion , Jenevieve A. Javier, told The SUN her family
wanted the Hong Kong police to conduct their
own autopsy of her sister's remains in order to clear lingering doubts
surrounding her death.
Meanwhile, Asuncion 's
employers, the couple Gu Hauiyu and Ms Liu, are under investigation by the
Hong Kong police in connection with the maid's
trips to Shenzhen with her employers.
Gu and Liu are due to report back to the police headquarters
by the end of December, a police spokesman told The SUN on Nov 9.
