Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday recommended to the court that a woman who brutally abused and eventually killed her boyfriend's three-year-old son be given the death sentence
Lin Yi-ping (林依萍), 26, allegedly killed the toddler Chen Cheng-yi (陳政義) last December, three months after she and her boyfriend, surnamed Fu (傅), brought home Chen and his two brothers, aged four and five, from a family support charitable institution. They were all children of Fu and his ex-wife, the indictment says.
On Dec. 30, Chen had a fever and was crying. Annoyed by the noise -- after Fu went to work in the evening -- Lin tied up Chen's hands and feet with cloth, then ropes and sealed his mouth with gum tape, according to the indictment.
The following afternoon, as Chen vomited and continued to cry, Lin went so far as to punch Chen numerous times, hit his head against the floor, force him to take medicine and milk, and again seal his mouth to try to prevent him from vomiting, the indictment says.
The indictment also states that Lin subsequently tied the other two boys to a pillar in the house and then went out alone.
She returned one hour later to find Chen dead. The postmortem indicated the cause of Chen's death was a combination of suffocation and multiple blunt force injuries. The deceased's five-year-old brother witnessed the torture and also gave his testimony to the prosecution.
During the investigation, Lin said she had beaten Chen but denied it was a murder, claiming it was her carelessness in taking care of the toddler. But the prosecution said the ill infant would have died with the beating that was inflicted and said therefore that Lin had a criminal intent to kill.
The prosecutor in the indictment said the accused was evil and the act was unforgivable.
A murder offense is punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment with a minimum sentence of ten years. According to the Child Welfare Law, the punishment for an offense against children shall be increased by one half.
Although Lin reported Chen's death to the police, the prosecutor said it was not a voluntary submission, which according to the law would lead to a reduction in punishment, because Lin still denies it was a murder.
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