A Taipei City police officer allegedly branded the Chinese characters for yeh mao (夜貓), or "night cat," on the chest of a high-school girl he suspected of being a prostitute, police officials said yesterday.
The word "cat" is sometimes used in Hokkien slang to mean "prostitute."
Officials say 29-year-old Feng Te-ming (
Last night, Feng was fired from the Taipei police force.
After an internal investigation, Feng reportedly admitted yesterday to branding the teenager, according to Chiang Cheng-chung (
Chiang said Feng and the 17-year-old initially met over the Internet and met in person for the first time on March 16 in Taipei's Nankang District (
Feng reportedly took the girl -- who was unaware that he was a police officer -- back to his place.
After listening to the girl receive a mobile phone call, Feng accused the 17-year-old of being a prostitute.
He then identified himself as a policeman and said he would take her to the police station, Chiang said.
According to Feng's version of the story, Chiang said, the two agreed that Feng would use heated steel wire to brand on the girl's chest the characters for "night cat" in exchange for his dropping the arrest.
While the teenager says Feng threatened her, the police officer says the girl herself proposed the idea of the branding as punishment, Chiang said.
Chiang said Feng's motivation in the attack remained unclear.
He said Feng appeared normal and had an exemplary work record.
The branding incident came to light after health workers at the girl's school noticed the festering wounds during a health check-up. The charges were reported to the Criminal Investigation Bureau on March 27.
The bureau transferred the case to Nankang Police.
Chiang said that the peace corps didn't learn of the charges until yesterday, after they were reported by a Chinese-language evening newspaper.
The Central News Agency reported that Feng and the teenager, accompanied by her parents, reached a settlement on Monday, with Feng agreeing to pay NT$100,000 in compensation.
The 17-year-old has denied that she has ever been involved in prostitution, or had ever intended to accept money in exchange for sex.
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