Taipei prosecutors yesterday charged two sisters for allegedly abusing another two children in their care, following an indictment last year for allegedly torturing a one-year-old boy to death.
The Liu (劉) sisters were in April last year charged with child abuse in the case of an infant nicknamed “Kai Kai” (剴剴) who was allegedly beaten to death in December 2023, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
That case is being heard by the Taipei District Court.
Photo: Taipei Times
Kai Kai died on Dec. 24, 2023, less than four months after the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) placed him in full-time foster care with the elder sister, Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱), an accredited home-based foster caregiver in Taipei, the Taipei City Government said.
During their investigation prosecutors found that the elder sister had been caring for a six-month-old infant surnamed Pan (潘) since April 2023, and the younger sister, Liu Juo-lin (劉若琳), had been looking after a newborn sunamed Tsai (蔡) through the CWLF at the same time.
The sisters often supported each other or jointly cared for the two children, the prosecutors’ office said in a statement.
While Liu Juo-lin was taking care of Tsai on Sept. 3, 2023, she allegedly did not intervene when another child in her care, surnamed Lin (林), pressed his feet against Tsai’s head and tightened the lanyard holding the pacifier around the infant’s neck.
She also failed to take action when Lin allegedly flicked Tsai’s eyes, nose, face and neck, causing Tsai to cry. Instead of stopping Lin, Liu Juo-lin recorded the scene on video and made fun of the incident, prosecutors said.
In October 2023, when the younger Liu was on leave for surgery, Liu Tsai-hsuan took care of Tsai. On Oct. 29, she allegedly tied Tsai’s hands and legs to a chair.
Prosecutors said that in September 2023, the Liu sisters made Pan stand with one foot on a chair and the other on the ground, so the child could not get up nor down, inflicting pain and causing the infant to cry. When he reached out for help, the two sisters ignored Pan.
In addition, Pan’s mother told prosecutors that the child’s anus was severely swollen, blistered and ulcerated after Liu Tsai-hsuan took care of him, which she attributed to his diapers not being changed often enough, prosecutors said.
The mother repeatedly told the elder sister that she should change Pan’s diapers more often, but the nanny failed to do so, prosecutors said, adding that despite a doctor’s warnings and Pan’s mother’s reminders, Liu Tsai-hsuan did not improve the way she cared for Pan.
The prosecutors’ office concluded its investigation yesterday, charging the Liu sisters with obstructing the natural development of the children, coercion and inflicting injury, while seeking heavy sentences in accordance with the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法).
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS