About 300 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court today, as it held a preliminary hearing ahead of the trial of Taipei babysitters accused of abusing a one-year-old child to death in December 2023.
The demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse today holding white chrysanthemums and shouting that the “demon babysitters” should not be granted parole.
Sisters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) were entrusted to care for the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
In April last year, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the pair on charges including child abuse resulting in death.
The court this afternoon summoned the sisters for a preparatory hearing.
The case is to be tried under the citizen judge system, although the citizen judges are yet to be selected as the trial has not yet begun.
Chia Yeong-chieh (賈永婕), chairwoman of Taipei Financial Center Corp, which owns and operates Taipei 101, was present at today’s event.
Chia has been speaking openly about the case on social media and calling for amendments to impose the death penalty or life sentences without parole for child abuse crimes.
Protestors outside the courthouse today held handwritten placards reading “no lenience for child abuse,” “abused children have no voice” and “society must not turn a blind eye.”
They also called for harsher sentences and the death penalty in cases of fatal child abuse.
Officers from the Zhongzheng First Precinct restricted vehicles from entering Changsha Street Sec 1, which connects Taoyuan Street and Yanping S Road, although protestors remained respectful and orderly.
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