The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld an earlier ruling that army personnel were responsible for the death of Hung Wen-pu (洪文璞), a conscript who committed suicide after being bullied, and said that Hung’s parents should receive NT$2.86 million (US$94,483) in compensation from Army Command Headquarters.
The compensation was increased from the NT$1.97 million ordered in the first ruling at the district court.
However, yesterday’s ruling can be appealed.
In the first trial, the district court found platoon leader Hao Cheng (郝錚), Hung’s immediate superior when he served at Army Command Headquarters in 2008, guilty of physical abuse of a subordinate and sentenced Hao to one year in prison.
Several other army officers, non-commissioned officers and others who were found to have been involved in bullying Hung received demerits or were given cautions.
Hung killed himself by jumping off of a building at a training camp in Nantou County in August 2008.
Hung’s mother went public about her son’s death in 2014, when she railed against Hung’s unit for bullying him and contributing to his suicide, complaining that Army Command Headquarters and Ministry of National Defense officials has colluded in covering up his death.
Hung had earned a master’s degree in physics from National Taiwan University before being called up in March 2008 to begin his mandatory military service when he was 27.
He was assigned to work at the accounting office of the Army Command Headquarters.
His mother said Hung had told her that he was the target of bullying, with his superiors often criticizing him and saying things like: “You have an advanced university degree, but you cannot even perform simple tasks,” “You are an idiot ! How many times do we have to teach you how to do this work?”
“He received vicious verbal abuse so often that he broke down and cried during work at least six times,” she said.
An investigation by prosecutors determined that Hung suffered from depression and emotional problems from the abuse and verbal bullying, which sometimes came in the form of threats against Hung.
The courts ruled that the verbal abuse had directly contributed to Hung being unable to cope with the distress, and led to commit suicide.
In the first ruling, the court heard from testimony that prior to entering the military, Hung was known as a jovial, friendly, open-minded guy.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS