Six Hong Kong youths have been convicted of the torture killing of an 18-year-old woman who was beaten to death and then had acid poured over her, a news report said yesterday.
Ivy Lau was tortured and beaten for more than 10 hours with a dumb bell, a rolling pin and a chair by a group of youths aged 16 to 23 whom she had befriended, the South China Morning Post reported.
Her body was then disfigured by corrosive acid, placed in a box and dumped on a Hong Kong hillside, a trial in Hong Kong's High Court was told on Thursday.
Lau's mother told the hearing she was unable to identify her daughter after her death because of the extent of her horrific injuries, the newspaper said.
Lau had left home to live in an apartment with a sister of one of the youths and befriended them before they rounded on her for what they described as her "domineering personality."
They then began a long campaign of first sexual harassment and then torture, forcing Lau to promise to improve her character, before her death during a sustained 10-hour attack in July 2004.
At Thursday's hearing, the six youths were acquitted of murder but convicted of Lau's manslaughter. A 15-year-old boy allegedly involved in the incident was acquitted of manslaughter.
Four other youths aged 16 and 17 were convicted of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm on Lau during an earlier attack, the newspaper reported.
Sentencing was adjourned until Aug. 23 for mitigation reports to be prepared on behalf of the defendants.
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