Hong Kong police have arrested a woman who is accused of killing her three young daughters, aged between two and five. The horrifying deaths have shocked the city, where violent crime is rare.
Officers arrived at the woman’s flat after receiving a call from her in which she claimed that her husband had stabbed her and her three daughters, the South China Morning Post reports.
The three girls, aged two, four and five, were unresponsive when the police arrived.
But Police Superintendent Alan Chung said the woman and her husband had been separated for about a year, and said they believe the woman was guilty of the killings.
The children, who police discovered had not been stabbed, were declared dead at a hospital.
Mr Chung said a bloodstained pillow was found and it was possible it was used to smother the children.
No wounds were found on their bodies, and no sharp objects or drugs were found at the scene, the officer added.
According to the police investigation, the case was linked to family relationship problems.
Mr Chung described the incident as “a very serious family violence case.”
He also confirmed that the woman and the girls lived in a small apartment in Sham Shui Po, one of the poorest districts in the financial hub of the city.
He said the woman had appeared normal when police arrived, and there was no evidence that she had a bad relationship with the girls.
Her husband met the police at around noon to help in the investigation.
Monday’s case was the second in three days involving killings that have shocked many Hong Kong residents.
Superintendent Alan Chung Nga Lun of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said in a news briefing that the woman and her daughters had been at the Sham Shui Po flat for about 11 months.
He said the woman had no record of a mental illness, and that there had been no reports of domestic violence involving the family.
Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Department said on Twitter that the woman and her daughters were being helped by a non-governmental organisation.