Police in Pingtung County have questioned eight people about the beating death of a man in Daciou Village (大坵).
The 44-year-old man, surnamed Liao (廖), was apparently attempting to remove electrical wiring to sell for scrap when he was allegedly beaten to death, police said.
An autopsy showed that Liao had multiple injuries, contusions and broken ribs, although examiners said that more tests were needed to determine the cause of death, police said.
Eight Daciou residents were questioned, including a man surnamed Chen (陳), police said, adding that they could face manslaughter charges.
They were quoted by police as saying that they confronted Liao and his wife on Wednesday night after he allegedly attempted to cut wires from electrical lines, presumably to sell for scrap.
Many residents in Daciou, near the Gaoping River (高屏溪), raise freshwater shrimp in ponds, which requires electric oxygenators and water cycling equipment.
Residents told police that in the past two weeks, thieves had stolen wiring in Daciou and nearby areas six times, and that this was why residents were angry, leading to a violent confrontation with Liao.
Chen told police that residents had installed warning sensors to alert them when the lines were cut, and when they sounded, he and his neighbors found the couple in a vehicle near the cut wires.
He said that when they asked the couple to step out of the vehicle to ask them about the cut cables, Liao refused and tried to ram them with the vehicle, which led to an altercation.
Liao’s wife called the police, saying that Liao had been beaten by people wielding wooden rods and sticks, police said.
When officers arrived, they found Liao lying motionless near the vehicle, while his wife also had injuries including broken bones, they said.
The vehicle’s windows were broken and a wooden stake was found punctured through a tire, which investigators suspected was done to prevent the couple driving away, police said, adding that cut wires were also found nearby.
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