HONG KONG — A jobless man accused of killing his girlfriend in a Hong Kong village house and illegally disposing of her body four years ago has claimed he mistakenly beat her to death while trying to help her lose weight by keeping her awake at night.
Ng Ka-sing, 29, is standing trial at the High Court for allegedly murdering his 30-year-old partner Yip Tsz-ching at their 700-square-foot flat in Galore Garden in Hung Shui Kiu between April 28 and 29, 2022.
The defendant had offered to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter, which prosecutors rejected.
Ng was also charged with preventing the lawful burial of a body after he was seen pulling a wheelboard carrying Yip's body, wrapped with a quilt and layers of plastic film, along Tin Ha Road in the early morning of April 29, 2022.
Senior public prosecutor Audrey Parwani said in her opening statement on Tuesday that Ng had given various explanations to police regarding Yip's injuries, including extensive corrosive burns covering 55% of her body.
"The prosecution does not accept the accused was telling the whole truth," Parwani told the seven-member jury.
The court heard Ng admitted in a cautioned interview that he accidentally killed his girlfriend by striking her with a rod, as he had been trying to prevent her from sleeping since the night of April 27, in the hope of helping her lose fat.
When Ng asked whether he should stop, his sworn sister - whose family shared the flat with the couple - allegedly suggested that he "continue for a bit longer".
Parwani said Ng continued his beating intermittently between 10pm on April 27 and 1.30am the following day, and between 3am and 5.30am on April 28. He allegedly told police that he did so because Yip did not tell him to stop.
Yip, according to the accused, also poured a bottle of drain cleaner on herself, whereas he splashed the liquid on the floor to "stimulate" her feet.
He asserted that his girlfriend hit herself against a wall seven to eight times that night after slipping on the floor.
At around 5am on April 28, Yip reportedly told Ng that she felt pain and might not survive. The court heard she fell into a coma after speaking for the last time at 7.21am that day.
The killing came to light when joggers saw a leg protrude from a rolled-up quilt loaded on Ng's wheelboard at around 6am on April 29.
Lau Kwok-yan, who reported the case to police, testified that Ng stood on the street and "did nothing" while awaiting officers to arrive.
"He did not appear to be in a panic," Lau said.
Street cleaner Wong Ah-sum said that when he questioned Ng about the body, the latter told him it was a "corpse" and that he intended to take it to a police station.
Upon his arrest at 6.36am, Ng said: "This was my girlfriend. I hit her to death with a rod by mistake."
Lo Man-hung, a forensic evidence specialist, discovered that Yip's body was tied to a toppled wooden chair with black rubbish bags and covered with a quilt. Her head was also wrapped in multiple rounds of cling film and adhesive tape.
Government pathologist Dr Foo Ka-chung estimated that Yip had died 12 to 24 hours by the time her body was discovered.
He found multiple bruises, abrasions and lacerations over Yip's head and other parts of her body, which could have been caused by blunt force, such as being punched and kicked by others.
Foo identified her cause of death as suffocation, following head injuries and extensive burns on her chest, abdomen and limbs.
The trial before Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes and the jury is expected to last 18 days.
