3 women charged with fighting in Hong Kong mall granted bail, banned from venue

Trio make first appearance in court after confrontation over their children’s quarrel in shopping centre play area devolved into brawl

A Hong Kong court has granted three women bail after they were charged with fighting in the children’s play area of a shopping centre and barred them from returning to the venue.

Leung Lai-ha, 68, her 34-year-old daughter Ng Ka-wun and Xu Yang, 34, made their first appearance at Kwun Tong Court on Thursday to face charges after their altercation on August 26 at the atrium of APM shopping centre in Kwun Tong.

Their confrontation was captured in a video posted on social media, and the three defendants faced a joint count of fighting in a public place.

The video showed the adults engaged in a physical fight, with Xu slapping Leung and the elderly woman hitting back at Xu and her five-year-old daughter.

Ng subsequently entered the fray, scuffling with Xu as the fight devolved into a brawl.

The video, which drew widespread attention online, did not show how the argument first arose but captured Xu’s daughter being knocked to the ground.

Court documents seen by the South China Morning Post on Thursday revealed more details of the defendants’ identities.