The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a woman in Kaohsiung sentenced to seven years and six months in prison over the death of her five-month-old child, who was left at home alone for two days in 2019.
The 21-year-old defendant, surnamed Yang (楊), was the sole caregiver of the child, who had been diagnosed with a congenital heart condition often associated with malnutrition.
On the night of Dec. 25, 2019, Yang went out with her elder daughter, leaving the younger child at home alone without having made any arrangements for someone to feed or care for her, the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch said in its ruling on Oct. 20 last year.
Photo: Taipei Times
When Yang returned home two days later at 5:35pm on Dec. 27, 2019, she found that the younger daughter had stopped breathing, the high court said.
However, she did not call an ambulance until 6:23pm, it said.
A forensic medical examination determined that congenital heart disease was the leading cause of the infant’s death, coupled with rhabdomyolysis and acute tubular necrosis, both of which are associated with acute kidney failure.
The Ciaotou District Court had originally sentenced Yang to six years in prison for abandonment resulting in death, but the verdict was appealed by prosecutors on the grounds that it was too light.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said that despite being aware of her younger daughter’s health problems and regular medication needs, Yang had intentionally abandoned her.
The High Court on Feb. 14 ruled that Yang had routinely neglected to feed her younger daughter on a regular basis, thus failing to fulfill even the most basic duties as a parent.
However, it said it would only increase Yang’s sentence to seven-and-a-half years as she had confessed and reported the infant’s death.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is final.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS