The Ministry of Justice yesterday said it would review the case of a New Taipei City man who was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for repeatedly raping the daughter of his live-in partner and later murdering the girl.
Amid concern by lawmakers that the latest sentence, which was changed from the death penalty, was too lenient, Vice Minister of Justice Tsai Pi-yu (蔡碧玉) said the case is still under legal proceedings and has yet to receive a final ruling.
After the court hands down its final verdict, the ministry will ask the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office to weigh the possibility of an appeal or review.
The man, surnamed Hsu (許), 58, started living with the victim’s mother 13 years ago and began sexually assaulting the girl twice a week for a period of five years since 2006.
After her mother committed suicide, the girl, accompanied by her biological father, reported the sexual assaults to police on Sept. 19, 2011.
She also moved out to live with her biological father.
Hsu, who had been imprisoned previously for sexually assaulting members of his family, pleaded with the victim to drop the case, but her father persuaded her not to.
Hsu then sneaked into the victim’s house on Nov. 29, 2011, and strangled her to death with a steel wire, arranging the scene to make it look like she had committed suicide.
The district court first handed down the death sentence to Hsu last year, which the high court upheld, as well as a single conviction for sexual assault.
The Supreme Court earlier this year revoked the death sentence and ordered a retrial, after which he was given a life sentence.
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