Police in Hong Kong are investigating a likely murder-suicide that occurred over Father's Day weekend that may have been carried out due to a skin disease.
A Murder-Suicide In Hong Kong
The bodies of three family members were discovered by police on June 18 in Tuen Mun, a residential neighborhood in Hong Kong. A relative alerted the authorities after the family failed to attend a Father's Day event. The family members had been dead for 24 hours before police located them.
The three victims were in different bedrooms in the apartments. Police said that a 60-year-old man and his 56-year-old wife had fatal stab wounds to the chest, waist, and legs. A 30-entimeter knife was recovered at the scene.
Police found the couple's daughter, Pang Ching-yu, with a plastic bag smothering her head. It was connected to a helium gas canister. Police suspect that the 23-year-old former nursing student may have murdered her parents before taking her life. She also had an older sister, but she was away on a business trip.
The Cause Of The Murder-Suicide
A suicide note recovered by police appears to be from the 23-year-old. She reportedly suffered from eczema, a painful skin condition. Police believe that she blamed her parents for her medical condition, and that is what motivated her to murder them.
"People with eczema giving birth to kids are worse than poor people giving birth to kids," she previously wrote in an online forum. "If you're poor, you can rely on your own hard work. With eczema, sorry, you have to suffer (your whole life) with no change. There's nothing you can do except to wait and die."
She reportedly sustained side effects from the steroid-based eczema medication that she used to treat her condition. These side effects made her skin feel painful.
In the suicide note, Pang wrote that she felt "better dead than alive."
What Should People Know About Eczema?
Eczema causes skin to become red, itchy, and inflamed. Over 30 million Americans suffer from some form of the disease. It is not contagious, but there are no cures for it. There are treatments available to help patients.
There are many types of eczema, such as atopic eczema. This is when a pattern of skin inflammation results in symptoms. Atopic eczema is also hereditary, and it occurs in six in 10 children where one parent already has it. If both parents have the condition, then there is an 80 percent chance of the child getting it.
