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.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
The government yesterday donated US$200,000 to the Philippines to support post-earthquake relief and recovery efforts, following a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake that struck Cebu Province late last month, killing at least 72 people and injuring 559 others. The donation was presented earlier yesterday by Representative to the Philippines Wallace Chow (周民淦) to Cherbett Maralit, deputy resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, at Taiwan’s representative office in Manila. In his remarks, Chow expressed concern for those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on the night of Sept. 30. "We sincerely hope for the earliest possible
RSS