The Public Security Police (PSP) arrested a man from the mainland last week for sexually assaulting two female mainlanders, one after another, PSP spokesman Leong Chi Seng said during a regular press conference on Friday.
Leong identified the suspect as a 36-year-old surnamed Zhao who told the police that he is unemployed.
Leong identified the two victims as a 23-year-old surnamed Li and a 27-year-old surnamed Zhu.
The three mainlanders had entered Macau as visitors.
According to Leong, the two female tourists travelled to Macau together on November 10 where they met Zhao on a messaging app. Later they agreed to meet up with Zhao who told them that he had booked two guestrooms at a hotel in Cotai and that he could pass one of the two guestrooms to them free of charge. The two women accepted Zhao’s offer.
On the night of November 12, Leong said, Zhao went to the guestroom where the two women were staying. After entering the room, Zhao was drinking and chatting with the two women, Leong said.
After a while, Leong said, the two women told Zhao that they needed to rest and asked him to leave. After Zhao agreed to leave, Li went into the bathroom.
However, Leong said, in reality Zhao did not leave the guestroom, but started to molest Zhu by touching her breasts and vagina. Zhu was resisting Zhao but to no avail.
According to Leong, Li heard Zhu shouting so she ran out of the bathroom. Seeing what was happening, Li tried to stop Zhao from continuing to molest Zhu. However, Leong said, Zhao then dragged Li into another guestroom on the same floor – the one where Zhao was staying – where he pushed her onto the bed and began molesting her by touching her breasts.
Li kept resisting Zhao before she finally succeeded in pushing him away. Li ran back to the guestroom where she was staying with Zhu. The two women then left the guestroom with their luggage and reported the case to the police, Leong said.
According to Leong, PSP officers arrived at the scene in the early hours of Monday last week where they arrested Zhao in his guestroom. Under questioning, Zhao admitted to having sexually molested the two women, claiming that he could not control himself under the influence of alcohol, Leong said.
Zhao has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of sexual coercion.
Sexual coercion vs rape
According to the Macau Penal Code, rape (Article 157) refers to forced sex, namely sexual intercourse (vaginal sex), anal sex or oral sex, by means of violence or intimidation. Rape also covers the situation when an offender – by means of violence or intimidation – inserts an object, or any particular part of their body, into the victim’s vagina or anus.
According to the Penal Code, sexual coercion (Article 158) refers to other types of sexual acts by means of violence or intimidation, such as touching the victim’s genitals.
Rape offenders face a prison term of between 3 and 12 years, while sexual coercion offenders face between two and eight years behind bars.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday shows the sexual coercion suspect being escorted by two police officers to a police station in Taipa.
