Police have arrested a 36-year-old female employee of a nursing home after a leaked video surfaced showing staff members encouraging a mentally disabled man to undress in front of another female resident.
The worker from Kong On Rehabilitation Centre in Mong Kok was arrested on suspicion of accessing a computer with dishonest or criminal intent at about 10am Wednesday in Tai Po, after the video went viral on the internet.
“Initial investigation showed the woman did not stop the man but used her mobile phone to film him,” a police source said.
The case was reported to the police by the Social Welfare Department.
Lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu said he was outraged by the “collective bullying” incident and had sent letters to authorities demanding a full investigation.
“Officials should tighten supervision of private nursing homes as soon as possible by reforming the Residential Care Homes Ordinance,” Kwong said.
Lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said the incident exposed the lack of training among staff members.
In the video released on its online platform by Chinese-language newspaper Mingpao, a male resident was seen telling a female resident she could search him after she accused him of stealing her ring. He told her that if she failed to find the ring on him, she should give him HK$500.
At this point, another voice believed to be that of the female staff member’s was heard saying: “This is a good bargain. Give him $500 and he’ll allow you to touch his entire body.”
The male resident then began to take off his clothes to cheers from people at the scene.
The nursing home employee is being held for questioning.
On Wednesday night, the centre apologised to the victim and the family involved.
It said the concerned worker had resigned on Wednesday.
It also said it had instructed its staff to ensure there would be no recurrence of such an incident. A retired police officer was hired as a supervisor to strengthen the staff administration.
Additional reporting by Danny Mok
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Nursing home employee held over ‘bullying’ video
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