The mother of a three-month-old girl who died after drinking salt-tainted milk formula yesterday expressed shock over her sister-in-law’s alleged involvement in the child’s death and dismissed allegations of a family cover-up.
The infant, known as Hsiang Hsiang (緗緗), died earlier this month due to hypernatremia — an electrolyte disturbance that is defined by an elevated sodium level in the blood — and acute kidney failure.
Her parents originally pointed the finger at milk formula producer Nobel Baby.
Photo: CNA
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office sent samples of the milk formula to the city’s Department of Health for inspection, which found that sodium levels in milk formula products from the company did not exceed standards.
The focus of the investigation later turned to the baby’s family and on Wednesday it was announced that the infant’s aunt, Tsou Ya-ting (鄒雅婷) had admitted putting salt in the baby’s milk formula since September.
She reportedly told investigators during questioning that she wanted to make the baby sick because of a feud with the girl’s mother, but did not intend to kill her.
Tsou was detained on Wednesday night. Prosecutors are also investigating whether some family members may have covered up for Tsou.
Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) at a press conference yesterday at Taipei City Council, the infant’s mother, who has not been named, said she and her husband learned about Tsou’s confession on the news.
She said there had been no attempt by the family to cover up the crime by blaming the baby’s death on the milk formula company.
“We were a happy family, and everyone took very good care of me after Hsiang Hsiang was born. I never thought the person who did this to my baby would be my sister-in-law,” she said.
Prosecutors cited Tsou as saying that she held a long-standing grudge because her in-laws favored Hsiang Hsiang and her mother. Tsou also accused the new mother of scolding her two sons.
The infant’s mother said she had refused to let Tsou’s sons enter her daughter’s room because the baby was sick, but denied any serious dispute with Tsou over family matters.
“I will choose to forgive her, and she will always be my sister-in-law. I will take care of her children,” she said.
Chien apologized to the milk formula company over the false accusation, and urged the media to give the family time and space to grieve and heal relations.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS