For nearly 10 months Taipei prosecutors have ignored a rape case that could have led to the indictment of one of the alleged murderers of Wu Hsiao-hui (吳曉蕙), a preliminary school teacher killed in 1994.
Huang Chi-feng (黃啟峰), one of two men who reportedly confessed to killing Wu, allegedly raped a Canadian woman on Oct. 21. Though the incident was reported to police and Huang was identified by the woman, Huang has yet to be arrested or detained for her assault.
"I wanted to press charges, but nobody would listen," said the woman, whose identity will not be disclosed in order to protect her privacy.
The woman is critical of the way police handled her case and frustrated that prosecutors never bothered to prosecute Huang.
Nearly 10 months after she was raped, she has still not been contacted by a prosecutor.
Recently, Wu's murder has prompted calls for a national finger-printing regime and tougher penalties for juvenile offenders -- both suspects in the 1994 murder were juveniles at the time -- but the woman told the Taipei Times that the problem is not the laws, but apathy toward enforcement.
"If they're talking now about protecting women under the law, they have to look at who's doing the protecting. It's supposed to be the police, but they didn't protect me," she said.
Lin Shu-chia (
"By law, police officers don't have the right to pull out their handcuffs to arrest somebody immediately if this person doesn't break the law in front of police officers," Lin explained.
But according to Lin, after the precinct accepted the case and began the paperwork, officers tried to wrap up the process as soon as possible with the woman identifying Huang as the suspect. They then transferred the case to Shihlin District Prosecutors' Office within a week.
"When she reported to us, there was no witness for this case. We handled it according to the statement of the victim. It's a simple rape case, I must say," he added.
Shihlin District Prosecutors' Office Prosecutor-General Wu Chen-huan (
Though the Canadian woman's case has not progressed in the courts, DNA samples and fingerprints resulting from the case were recently used to tie Huang to Wu Hsiao-hui's murder eight years ago.
The Canadian woman's case is also the only case that could tie Huang to a criminal act as an adult.
Wu said that since Huang was 22 at the time of the Oct. 21 incident, he would face full criminal responsibility if indicted.
"For the former Hsinu Elementary School teacher Wu Hsiao-hui's murder, he was only 15 when he [allegedly] committed the crime, so he was under the protection of the Law Governing the Disposition of Juvenile Cases (
Huang could receive a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for Wu Hsiao-hui's murder, rather than life imprisonment or the death penalty were he an adult.
He could receive an additional seven years if convicted of raping the Canadian woman.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS