Authorities in Tainan yesterday continued their investigation into a family tragedy in which a couple allegedly committed suicide by burning charcoal inside their rented apartment, taking the lives of their three children with them.
Police said they are interviewing neighbors, the landlord and the building’s security guard to determine if foul play was involved.
The bodies of the five members of the family were discovered inside the master bedroom on Tuesday afternoon, and police identified them as a man surnamed Wang (王), 40, his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 36, and their three sons, aged seven, six and two.
Investigators and forensic doctors re-examined the site yesterday, saying they will likely conduct an autopsy.
Preliminary assessment indicated the apparent family suicide might have taken place a few days before, since they had not been seen outside of the house for some time and the elder children had not attended school since Friday last week.
Advocates for children’s rights said children have a right to live, regardless of their parents’ circumstances.
Taiwan Fund for Children and Families executive Lee Pao-liang (李保良) said he was saddened by the tragedy.
“Children are innocent; they must not be deprived of their life. They are our nation’s assets, and not the private property of the parents,” he said.
When a family encounters difficulties, they should discuss the problem with friends and relatives, or seek assistance from the social welfare system, and must have the courage to face problems to give themselves an opportunity to turn it around, Lee said.
Police said the couple allegedly committed suicide due to financial difficulties, since they had not paid rent for four months and might have had other debts.
Friends said that Wang had lost money in bad investments, and was working at a low-paying job at a car rental company.
Investigators said the couple wrote on the walls with a brush pen phrases about “hate and bitterness” and “for our next life, we don’t want to come back as humans.”
Friends said they only married earlier this year, with the two elder children coming from the wife’s previous marriage.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He