The Taipei District Court yesterday granted a prosecutors’ request to detain three men suspected of abusing a three-year-old boy, resulting in his death.
During the investigation of the incident, which took place in New Taipei City (新北市), investigators found that the victim’s father, a man surnamed Liu (劉) who has a history of drug abuse, placed his son in the care of two men surnamed Hsu (許) and Chou (周), both of whom also have drug-related records, prosecutors said.
They said Chou and Hsu forced the boy to drink rice wine, then taped his mouth shut before whipping his legs with cable wires and pulling out his fingernails with -pliers.
The suspects allegedly told prosecutors that they tortured the boy because he wouldn’t stop crying.
Prosecutors said Chou and Hsu contacted Liu when they realized that the boy had stopped breathing. Liu then directed another man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), to inject the boy with diluted drugs in an attempt to revive him, but to no avail, prosecutors said.
The men then took the boy to Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Sindian Distict (新店) and left him there, they said.
Hsu, Chou and Cheng were arrested on Thursday and charged with manslaughter.
After interrogating the men, prosecutors requested that the Taipei District Court grant permission to detain the suspects.
The three men were quoted by prosecutors as saying they were misled by Liu’s instructions.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it had not excluded the possibility of detaining Liu for further questioning.
The boy’s mother only learned that her son had died from watching a news report on television and she then hurried to the hospital, prosecutors said.
However, because the mother is wanted in connection with a separate drug case, she was detained by the Banciao District Prosecutors’ Office, prosecutors said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19