Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the death of a two-year-old boy in Taipei, after his mother allegedly locked him in a bathroom, where police later found his body, which showed signs of malnutrition and weighed only 6kg.
It was reported that the mother and her boyfriend, both 21, admitted to only feeding leftovers to the boy.
Taipei prosecutors yesterday questioned the couple, and the mother, surnamed Lin (林), was ordered to remain under the supervision of her parents, who live in Chiayi City, while her boyfriend, surnamed Hsiao (蕭), was released on NT$30,000 bail.
Lin used to live in Chiayi with her family and her previous boyfriend was the boy’s father, police said, adding that she came to Taipei in July this year, to work as a hostess at a nightclub.
Prosecutors said they plan to file charges against Lin and Hsiao, for abandonment resulting in death, as Lin said she did not know how to take care of her child.
Lin told investigators that she did not know what to do as the boy kept crying, so she locked him up in the bathroom and went to work. She found that he had died when she returned.
It is alleged that Lin has some form of mental disability, and prosecutors permitted her release without imposing bail, as she had no savings and used her monthly NT$40,000 wages to support herself and Hsiao, who police said had no job and relied on Lin for money.
An official autopsy is to be performed on Tuesday.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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