Mainland prostitute stabbed to death in frenzied brothel attack had only been in Hong Kong 24 hours
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 26 August, 2015, 9:30am
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 August, 2015, 8:18am
Clifford Lo clifford.lo@scmp.com
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-ko ... d-death-brutal-hong
A mainland prostitute was allegedly killed in a frenzied knife attack by her client in a Yau Ma Tei brothel on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after arriving in the city.

The 20-year-old suspect is accused of having sex with another mainland prostitute next door before stabbing the 45-year-old woman. He allegedly fled the brothel in his underpants and jumped into the sea in an apparent suicide attempt.

A passerby called police and the man was arrested on the Kwun Tong promenade after swimming ashore.

"He was wearing underpants and a [cloth] bag was also wrapped around his waist at the time of the arrest," a police source said.

It is understood he found the bag after running out of the flat, and jumped into a taxi that took him to Kwun Tong. On Wednesday night, police were questioning the man, a new mainland immigrant.

The killing happened in a second-floor subdivided flat in Reclamation Street at about 3.45am. Police said the motive remained unknown. The victim - Li Jianfeng - suffered multiple stab wounds, and a bloodstained knife was found at the scene.

"Initial examination showed she suffered more than 20 stab wounds to the neck and chest," said Superintendent Calvin Mohammed, acting assistant Yau Tsim district commander (crime). He said the suspect was believed to be a customer who went to the flat to buy sex.

"A woman heard [the victim] screaming and went to check. She found a man running out from the flat," the source said.

Li was found unconscious on the floor inside the flat. She was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where she was declared dead at 4.18am.

Li, holder of a two-way permit allowing travel from the mainland to Hong Kong and Macau, came to Hong Kong on Tuesday. The woman who found the body is a friend and also from the mainland. It is understood she alerted a male brothel-keeper, who called police.

Another police source said many subdivided flats in Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Shui and Mong Kok were used as brothels for mainland prostitutes. "Each pays about HK$350 a day to rent a subdivided flat for the purpose of prostitution during their seven-day visit," he said. "They solicit clients on the street and offer sex services in such flats, which are used as their accommodation."

Immigration figures show that 2,502 sex workers, mostly from the mainland, were arrested in the first seven months of this year. A total of 2,685 were nabbed in the same period last year.

Police figures show there were 11 reports of homicide in the first six months of the year, compared with 13 in the same period last year. There were two reports of homicide in July and this month.