The Taiwan High Court yesterday reduced the prison sentence of a woman convicted of killing her baby, ruling that she was emotionally unstable when she committed her crime.
The 34-year-old woman, surnamed Chien (簡), told prosecutors that she had an affair with a colleague of her husband’s surnamed Wu (吳) shortly after she married. In May 2008 she found out she was pregnant and suspected Wu was the father.
She gave birth to a baby boy in February last year, but was diagnosed with post-partum depression.
In June, four months after giving birth, she killed the baby, first smashing him into a wall and then stabbing him 51 times. Chien then tried to kill herself.
Prosecutors investigating the case said DNA testing showed Chien’s husband was the father of the baby.
At the first trial, at the Banciao District Court, prosecutors sought a life sentence. The court sentenced Chien to 15 years in prison.
The High Court yesterday reduced the sentence by more than half to seven years.
Judges said in their ruling that they had to consider that Chien had suffered emotionally and regretted her crime, and that she had been diagnosed with psychological disorders including depression and hallucinations and committed the crime when she was emotionally unstable.
The ruling is not final and can be appealed.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators