Tuen Mun resident Rachel Smyth has never joined any of the extradition bill protests which have gripped Hong Kong since June. But on Sunday night the 40-year-old English teacher ended up with a bleeding head and bruises on her body inflicted by the batons of riot police at an MTR station.
Out of curiosity and concern, she said, she stayed on a staircase that led to Siu Hong Court to see what was going on. About 50 to 60 residents were also there, chanting at officers, urging them to leave, to avoid further unrest in their neighbourhood. “If I hadn’t been careful, I would have just slipped and rolled down,” Smyth said. “They started beating my head, at least five times [on my whole body] … my head actually started bleeding. I saw the blood splattering on the steps.Smyth’s allegations came after police had been accused of going after passengers indiscriminately while chasing protesters at Prince Edward MTR station on Saturday night.
According to Smyth’s account, on Sunday, after riot officers hit her, they ran off without questioning or arresting her. She insisted she did not do anything illegal and the police could have used a less forceful method to get people to leave. “Even though now, Carrie Lam has announced she was adding people to that new team. Still, it would not help anything,” she said.