Hong Kong police arrest 28-year-old man over sexual harassment at university orientation camps

Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong police have arrested a 28-year-old man following reports of sexual harassment at orientation camps at the city’s Education University.

The Education University of Hong Kong. Photo: Education University.

Police said the man was suspected of rape, indecent assault and voyeurism. He was arrested on Lantau Island on Tuesday, and was being held for investigation, according to the force.

Addressing reporters in Cantonese on Wednesday, Basil Tang, an assistant district commander, said police received reports of sexual harassment and voyeurism from two women in July and August. They had attended orientation camps in Tai Po and Lantau Island.

Police contacted the university and two more women came forward who said they were sexually assaulted by a man at orientation camps in Tai Po and Lantau Island at the end of August.

After investigating, police arrested the 28-year-old on Tuesday. He had attended six orientation camps in Yuen Long, Tai Po and Lantau Island in July and August, Tang said, adding that five camp t-shirts were found in his residence and his car.

Tang also said the man had been arrested earlier over a suspected sexual harassment incident that was not related to orientation camps.

“Schools should be a place for students to learn and grow,” Tang said, adding that police continued to have “cross-sector collaboration” with stakeholders including schools, parents and teachers to nurture law-abidingness among youth.

He also called on people who had attended orientation camps in the mentioned districts and believed they experienced sexual harassment to come forward.

The Hong Kong Police Force emblem. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP.

Asked if the six orientation camps that the 28-year-old had attended were all related to Education University, Tang said that one of them was a joint-university event. In total, police have received accusations from five women about the man.

The arrest came after the university said on Tuesday that it would set up a task force to review the operation of orientation camps. In an email sent to students and staff at the university, the university’s dean Sammy Hui said the review was aimed at protecting the “interests and well-being of students.”

The student affairs office would also provide counselling for students in need, he added.

HKFP reached out to Education University for comment following the arrest. The university’s communications department said it had no comment as the case was under police investigation. It added that the school had zero tolerance for illegal behaviour and would take disciplinary actions accordingly.

Orientation camp arrests

It was the second arrest related to university induction activities to take place in less than a week.

Last Wednesday, police apprehended Tang Ho-yin, 20, after allegations surfaced online of sexual harassment at a three-day orientation camp run by the University of Hong Kong (HKU)’s nursing society.

The University of Hong Kong. File photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

Tang faced two counts of indecent assault relating to an 18-year-old student. HKU has confirmed that the man arrested was a student at the university, adding that it was “closely monitoring the situation.”

Ahead of the arrest, the university opened an investigation after somebody who said they were a first-year HKU nursing student alleged there was sexual harassment and cannabis use at a camp. The allegations were shared in a Chinese-language Instagram post.

Orientation camps, typically referred to as “o camp” and organised by student clubs, are widely attended by first-year university students ahead of the start of term. Many are overnight camps where students sleep in campus dormitories. The camps are led by fellow students, not university staff.

Often seen as a rite of passage for university students, orientation camps have come under criticism before, with accusations that they involve older students humiliating and bullying younger students.

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