Hong Kong man faces life imprisonment for ‘exorcism’ murder of mentally disabled woman

A self-proclaimed Taoist priest is facing life imprisonment in Hong Kong over the murder of an intellectually impaired woman, after a jury found he intended to cause grievous bodily harm when he struck her head against a wall and forced alcohol down her throat as part of an “exorcism”.

A seven-member High Court jury comprising six women and a man returned the unanimous verdict on Tuesday finding Dunsany Cheung Chi-choi, 54, guilty of a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence.

Cheung was also convicted of indecent assault for using a sex toy on the victim, 21-year-old Ng Yan-yu, before she was found dead in a Sai Kung village house on September 2, 2019.

The jury also agreed to convict Ng’s mother, Ng Ma Yu-kang, 57, of aiding and abetting Cheung’s sexual assault on her daughter.

Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping revoked the bail previously granted to the mother before adjourning sentencing to Friday for the defence to prepare mitigation submissions.

The trial heard the elder Ng started co-renting the three-storey house in Sai Kung’s Lung Mei Village in December 2017 with Cheung, who was her master in Zi Wei Dou Shu, a form of Chinese fortune-telling.

Cheung, a tattooed man with a ponytail, began performing a spate of “exorcism” rituals on the victim in February or March of 2018 after suggesting she had been possessed by evil spirits.