A Filipina housekeeper allegedly attacked four members of her Taichung employer's family with a knife on Sunday and police said yesterday that she had apparently suffered a psychotic episode.
Police completed their interview of the woman yesterday with assistance from officials from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, who served as translators.
Police said the woman, surnamed Visitacion, 32, told them that she lost control after having a vision that her four children in the Philippines had been murdered.
According to police, Visitacion attacked the three children of her employer, surnamed Wang, as they were eating dinner.
The police said the Wangs' 10-year old son was slashed at the table.
His two older sisters tried to run upstairs to the second floor, where their parents were, but were also attacked.
Wang and his wife heard the children screaming and rushed out of their room, where they encountered Visitacion with a knife in her hand, police said.
Wang attempted to grab the knife but was slashed in the face, they said.
Wang's wife called the police, who arrested Visitacion at the house. The police said she resisted furiously as she was taken to the police station.
The police said the 16-year-old girl suffered serious knife wounds to her neck and body, while the 12-year-old suffered cuts to her arms and hands.
Police said all four were in good condition after receiving medical treatment.
Wang told reporters yesterday that Visitacion had worked for his family since April last year and her two-year contract would expire next March.
He said she had been in bad mood recently because she had been unable to contact her husband in the Philippines.
He said she might also have learned from her labor brokerage company that the family had decided not to extend her contract.
"She seriously hurt my family. She had no humanity. My family treated her well, but she was so cruel to us," Wang said.
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