HK court fines mainlander for poking pregnant woman in stomach

A Chinese mainlander was fined for jabbing a pregnant woman's belly with an umbrella in Hong Kong for filming her cutting in line with her cellphone, Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily reported on Thursday.

Xie Qiaoling, 35, was fined HK$1,000 ($129) after pleading guilty to assault at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Conflict sparked when Xie, a manager at an insurance company, jumped ahead in a line to make insurance payments at the Prudential Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui on July 26, Hong Kong Economic Times reported on Wednesday. Xie's move drew ire from those waiting in line.

"Go back to the mainland! You have to queue up when you are in Hong Kong," the victim, surnamed Feng, can be heard saying in the video.

Xie told the court she had accidentally poked Feng in the abdomen while using her umbrella to stop Feng from shooting the video.

Feng was six-month pregnant, Hong Kong news portal simpao.com reported.

Feng was sent to a hospital and no injuries were reported.

Xie expressed her remorse at the hearing, saying she did not mean to assault Feng.

"Her rudeness has shamed mainlanders," Net users in the mainland commented. "A HK$1,000 fine is too lenient. She could be accused of intentional assault," a Net user said.

The judge found Xie had not deliberately attacked Feng and that while Xie's queue-jumping caused discontent, it was also offensive to film Xie.