A man in Yilan has been detained on a charge of harassing his ex-wife after he allegedly bombarded her with more than 300 telephone calls in a single day, local prosecutors said on Friday.
Police arrested the man, identified only by his last name, Chang (張), after his ex-wife reported that she was harassed and received death threats from him on Wednesday, the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The threats allegedly included messages like “I must catch you” and “I will not be content with not killing you,” which Chang reportedly sent to his ex-wife on the Line messaging app, prosecutors said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of the Interior
After his arrest, prosecutors questioned the suspect and said he violated the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act (跟蹤騷擾防制法), a new law that came into effect this month.
Prosecutors filed a motion with the Yilan District Court to have Chang detained over concerns that he could stalk and threaten his ex-wife if he were released.
The court granted the request on Thursday.
Chang was the first person in Yilan to be arrested under the act, which was signed into law late last year to increase punishments for harassment and stalking, and offer more protection to victims.
Under the act, stalking and harassment are defined as continuous or repeated actions related to sex or gender that frighten the victim and have a negative impact on their daily lives.
The new law lists eight types of behavior as constituting stalking and harassment, including spying on, following and approaching, threatening or insulting another person, and online harassment.
Aside from Yilan, the new anti-stalking law has also been applied to incidents in Taichung and Taipei, but no charges have yet been brought.
In Taichung, the reported harassment case involved a married man who allegedly repeatedly tried asking a woman out on a date by constantly texting and calling her, but he was rejected each time.
The Women and Children Protection Brigade of the Taichung Police Department on Friday said the man continued his pursuit despite the woman telling him several times that she had no interest in him.
According to the new law, those found guilty of any of the eight actions face up to one year in prison and/or a maximum fine of NT$100,000.
Anyone found guilty of engaging in stalking or harassment while carrying a dangerous weapon can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and/or a fine of up to NT$500,000.
The Taipei harassment case involved a man who apparently wanted to reconcile with his former girlfriend.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS