A woman has been sentenced to three and a half months in prison after being found guilty of using one of her breasts to assault a police officer.
Ng Lai-ying, 30, was at a protest in Hong Kong in March when she claimed chief inspector Chan Ka-po had groped her left breast when he tried to grab her bag.
But instead, a court said she had used her chest to bump against his arm, and ‘used her female identity to trump up the allegation that the officer had molested’ her.
Dozens of activists wearing bras picketed outside the police headquarters of Wan Chai in Hong Kong on Sunday for a ‘breast walk’ to protest the decision, chanting: ‘Breasts are not weapons – give us back our breast freedom.’
‘We better watch out as one day police might accuse us of attacking with our penis or buttock,’ a topless male activist wearing a black bra told the crowd.
Retired teacher James Hon, 66, wearing a pink bra over his white polo shirt, told news agency AFP: ‘It’s the first time to wear a bra in my entire life.
‘We have come to this rather odd method to tell the world how ridiculous it is,’ the 66-year-old said.
‘The ruling is absurd. How can breasts be a weapon? We are angry but we also fear that this precedent exploits women’s rights to take part in protests,’ Ng Cheuk-ling, an activist from Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities, said.
‘Police must review their guidelines to handle female protesters.’
Ng Lai-ying had been at a protest against mainland Chinese cross-border traders when the incident happened.
After sentencing Ng Lai-ying was bailed pending an appeal.
AFP.