Family members of a female army lieutenant who allegedly committed suicide at her barracks spoke out yesterday, requesting that prosecutors conduct a full investigation of the case, while Ministry of National Defense officials promised to improve monitoring of the armed forces and enhance its psychological counseling program.
Wu Wan-ling (吳宛凌), a lieutenant platoon leader with the Kaohsiung City-based 99th Marine Brigade, was found dead in her barracks on April 20.
A preliminary report by military investigators alleged that she tied knots in her field-camouflage uniform and hanged herself.
She did not leave a suicide note, investigators said.
After her funeral on Tuesday, Wu’s family and friends said that they wanted a thorough investigation to be conducted over the death, because they have doubts over how she died.
They said Wu had written messages saying that she was under a lot of stress and had reported verbal bullying by members of her unit.
They said she was frequently mocked and scolded by two female superior officers.
Her father, Wu Tsung-cheng (吳宗城), said he does not seek punishment for the superior officers, even if they were to be found responsible for the death.
“My daughter is gone,” Wu Tsung-cheng said.
“We must forgive and carry on... What else can we do?” he asked.
However, he demanded that public prosecutors probe the case.
“We have to know the truth of what happened to her,” Wu Tsung-cheng said.
A cousin of Wu Wan-ling said they had received messages from the lieutenant on social media complaining of being under too much pressure, being asked to work late into the night and having to take on other officers’ duties.
The messages said she faced vicious scorn from two overbearing female superiors, according to the cousin.
The case preceded another in the Marine Corps. Another officer in 99th Marine Brigade died shortly after Wu.
According to a preliminary military report, a male lieutenant surnamed Chen (陳) was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment after he was found hanging by an electrical cord in a barracks bathroom on Sunday.
He was resuscitated, but died the next day.
The issue of suicide in the armed forces was brought up at yesterday’s meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee amid claims of negligence by officers, harsh treatment of soldiers and improper conduct.
Citing reports compiled by her office, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that since 2013, there have been on average 15 suicides among military personnel on active service per year.
“How can we allow this to happen again and again?” Chen Ting-fei asked.
“Young people’s lives are lost in these cases and yet we only receive promises of investigations and reviews from the military,” Chen Ting-fei said.
“We do not see concrete action from the military to implement suicide-prevention measures and to put in place better monitoring and psychological counseling for all units,” she said.
Chen Ting-fei said people see suicide as a serious problem, but not much has changed to address suicide and accidental-death issues.
This is among the reasons that it is difficult to attract sufficient recruits to build up the nation’s all-volunteer armed forces, she said.
Chen Ting-fei criticized military officials, saying they had not dealt with the problem in earnest over the years, while they only offer “regrets” and “condolences” to the families of soldiers who die.
This is not good enough in the light of 15 suicides per year in the armed forces, she said.
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