The Taipei Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday charged a Taipei couple with abusing their domestic worker.
The husband, surnamed Lee (李), and his wife, surnamed Yang (楊), allegedly abused the Indonesian worker, nicknamed “A-siang,” for about seven months, prosecutors said.
The abuse occurred for an extended period because A-siang was reluctant to alert the authorities, as she had absconded from her previous job, they said.
Photo: Wu Cheng-feng, Taipei Times
The couple hired A-siang in April last year to work at residences they owned in Tianmu (天母) and Dazhi (大直).
They allegedly started beating her in December, after reportedly being dissatisfied with her work and attitude, the prosecutors said, adding that the alleged abuse continued until A-siang fled.
The alleged beatings were also reported on the Facebook group Baoliao Gongshe (爆料公社) in June, they said.
A medical examination found that A-siang had pierced eardrums, blurred vision and cataracts, eye damage, deformed lips, broken teeth and other injuries to her face and body caused by physical trauma.
A-siang said the couple poured hot water on her, scalded her skin with a garment steamer and blew hot air on her face with a hair dryer, and also kicked her in the groin and the upper thighs.
When she started working for the couple, they took her passport, personal documents, cellphone and some of her cash for “safekeeping,” she said.
They also installed surveillance cameras to monitor her movements and arbitrarily docked her pay, forcing her into debt, she said.
The couple also forced her to eat their pet dog’s feces, A-siang said.
They demanded that she perform better at work, saying that otherwise they would have gangsters beat her family, she said.
She also accused the couple of threatening to kill her by throwing her off the top of the Tianmu high-rise where the couple had an apartment.
Prosecutors said that an investigation found sufficient evidence of physical abuse.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
RSS