A Taoyuan couple was indicted on Tuesday for allegedly keeping their daughter confined to their home for three years.
The daughter, now 18, was held at her mother and stepfather’s home in Yangmei District (楊梅) from Sept. 1, 2015, to Oct. 25 last year, according to an indictment by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office.
The teenager was living in an apartment on the second floor of the residence, and the doors to the first and third floors were locked and the windows were sealed, the office said.
Her stepfather gave her microwaved meals, instant noodles and snacks, some of which she managed to sell by breaking a seal on a window and lowering them in a basket to her neighbors, the indictment said.
The teenager was afraid to ask for help, as she had long been a victim of domestic violence, the indictment said, citing an evaluation by the Center for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention in Taoyuan.
With the money she earned from selling her food, she bought a secondhand cellphone from a neighbor and began posting on social media about her situation, which prompted an Internet user to notify the police in October last year, the indictment said.
The woman was rescued shortly after and taken to a care center, where she remains in the care of social welfare workers and professionals, police said.
The couple admitted to keeping their daughter locked up, saying that she was “disobedient,” the indictment said.
They have been charged with offenses against personal freedom and maltreating a minor, in contravention of articles 286, 296 and 302 of the Criminal Code, the office said.
Prosecutors said they are seeking heavy sentences against the couple on the grounds that they breached the Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) and because they showed no remorse for the physical, mental and emotional damage caused to their daughter.
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