The SUN HK : HK couple acquitted of rape, indecent assault on Filipina DH

By The SUN

Lai, shown here all covered up in black, is the real victim in the case, says her lawyer

A local Chinese couple accused of conspiring in the alleged rape of their Filipina domestic helper more than four years ago were acquitted of all charges against them on Friday, after a trial that lasted for 15 days at the Court of First Instance.

All seven jurors found Chan Chim-tak, 48, not guilty of rape and attempted rape against the helper, X. His former wife, Lai Chi-san, 36, was also acquitted of the charge of indecent assault and aiding and abetting Chan in raping X.

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The unanimous verdict was reached earlier today after the jury made up of four men and three women deliberated for about four hours.

Afterwards, High Court Judge Alex Lee praised the prosecution and said the verdict was based purely on evidence.

Told about the outcome, X, who had gone back to the Philippines a few days after wrapping up her testimony, was said to be in shock. One of her friends in Hong Kong told The SUN X was in disbelief. “Bakit raw ganun ang hatol?” (Why was the verdict like that?).

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X reportedly said there was no reason why she would have made up such a serious allegation against her former employers.

Chan and Lai both pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Chan said there was consensual sex between him and X, although he did give the helper $150 afterwards.

Lai, who had maintained that she was taking a shower when Chan and X had sex in the master bedroom, burst into tears when she heard the verdict.

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The court was told Lai had filed for divorce against Chan three days after the alleged rape in their house in Hung Fuk Estate, Yuen Long, on Jan. 21, 2018.

X, who was flown back to Hong Kong from the Philippines to testify in the case, had said it was Lai who suggested she should have sex with Chan.

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Lai allegedly pulled X from the kitchen and dragged her to the room where Chan was, naked. Lai, who was by then also naked, then allegedly touched X’s breast and stimulated Chan so he could succeed in raping the helper.

The day after the incident, X took the couple’s eight-year-old daughter to her school bus stop and went to the police. She brought with her the clothes she had worn during the alleged rape and tissue she had wiped herself with.

Chan (with a hat), claimed he had sex with X as part of 'a deal'

A medical examination showed Chan’s DNA was found in X’s body. However, on being questioned by the police, Chan said what happened between him and the helper was just "a deal."

Lai’s counsel, on the other hand, had asked X repeatedly if she did not bear a grudge against the female employer who kept telling her off through text messages for not doing her work well.

During cross examination, the lawyers for Chan and Lai questioned X repeatedly about inconsistencies in the statement she gave to the police more than four years earlier and her testimony in court.

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A crucial issue was her use of the word “ginamit” (used) in complaining to a friend, Rose, about the incident, as well as in her police statement; and “hinalay (rape) which she used during her court testimony.

Rose, who also gave evidence, was firm in saying X had told her she had been raped. But towards the end of her testimony, when asked to choose between “sexual intercourse” and “rape” in describing how X had described the event in question, Rose said “intercourse.”

In her closing statement, Lai’s counsel described the defendant as the real victim in the case. After divorcing Chan, Lai moved into a partitioned flat and now works at a tea shop.

The lawyer added Lai wouldn’t be living such a “pathetic life” if she was indeed complicit in the alleged rape.

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Chan’s lawyer, on the other hand, pointed out that X could not have been dragged into the master bedroom by Lai who is visibly frail and small.

The lawyer also said X was lying when she claimed Chan had raped her while his baby was sleeping in a cot inside the room.

The court heard earlier that X arrived in Hong Kong in November 2017 to work for the couple who have an eight-year-old daughter and a baby boy who was then one-and-a-half years old.

After just a month, X said she had wanted to quit because of Lai’s poor treatment of her and of her own children. X served a month’s notice to terminate her contract on Jan. 8, 2018, two weeks before the alleged rape.

X, who has since returned to the Philippines, is married and has two children.