PhD student fined HK$5,000 for splashing semen-laced liquid on woman at Hong Kong university
Hong Kong Free Press
A PhD student has been fined HK$5,000 for splashing liquid containing his own semen onto a woman’s buttocks at a local university.
Lai Changwei, a 26-year-old PhD student in neuroscience at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to be sentenced before Magistrate Li Chi-ho on Tuesday.
Lai, who is from Shenzhen, pleaded guilty two weeks ago to one count of indecent assault for splashing water mixed with his own semen onto a woman’s backside on an escalator at the Li Dak Sum Yip Yio Chin Academic Building at CityU.
No ‘direct’ contact
The magistrate, speaking in Cantonese, handed down the fine after deciding that Lai had made no direct bodily contact with the woman or her intimate areas and that he did not commit the act on public transport, “relative” to other indecent assault cases.
According to case details read out in court, Lai had confessed to “accidentally” splashing the liquid on the woman, local media reported.
Asking for a lighter sentence, a lawyer representing Lai said that the defendant “fully understood” the humiliation that the incident had brought to the victim, blaming his actions on academic pressure.
Lai’s remorse was evident from his confession, the lawyer added.
The court also heard that the neuroscience researcher had pulled all-nighters conducting failed experiments in the 10 days leading up to the incident.
Probation, community service ‘impracticable’
The defence submitted a second report on his psychological condition, as well as his suitability for probation or community service, in which a probation officer and a clinical psychologist both said he had difficulty managing stress.
The report also said that either a probation or community service order would be impracticable as Lai held a student visa.
Magistrate Li said he accepted that the PhD student had the “courage to own up to his criminal responsibility,” also noting his timely guilty plea and clean criminal record, and handed down the HK$5,000 fine.
The maximum penalty for indecent assault in Hong Kong is 10 years in prison, though jail terms meted out in magistrates courts are generally capped at two years for a single offence.
A Hong Kong construction worker was in July handed a four-month jail term for common assault after he admitted to spraying women’s buttocks with liquid.
In March, HKFP spoke to the administrator of an Instagram page titled “Pissed-us-off,” which shared stories of women who experienced similar attacks.
The cases reported to the page were scattered around Hong Kong in areas including Mong Kok, Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, an escalator at Lam Tin and a bus terminal at Tung Chung.
The earliest case dated back to 2004 and nearly all victims had been splashed around the buttocks. While some said the liquid was water, others reported the smell of urine and some feared it may have been semen.
Gender studies scholars told HKFP that pouring water on women was a form of sexual violence.
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
HKFP has an impartial stance, transparent funding, and balanced coverage guided by an Ethics Code and Corrections Policy.
Support press freedom & help us surpass 1,000 monthly Patrons: 100% independent, governed by an ethics code & not-for-profit.