The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office today said it is seeking a seven-year prison term for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a drunk woman inside the concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Oct. 9.
The office said it concluded its investigation today, and the man, surnamed Chiu (邱), has been indicted on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency.
Photo: Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
The man was arrested on the afternoon of Oct. 9, after police received a report that he had dragged a seemingly intoxicated woman, who was reportedly a visitor from Hong Kong, to a wall in the station's main hall and raped her, the Railway Police Bureau said.
The man reportedly knew the victim and had been drinking with acquaintances in the eastern section of the train station concourse.
After the victim's companions left, she later collapsed to the ground at 3:22pm, prosecutors said.
Chiu then dragged the woman from the main concourse to a quiet corner of the station, where he assaulted her against the wall for 10 minutes in public view, prosecutors said.
Officers from the bureau arrived on the scene at 3:37pm and arrested Chiu.
Police then identified him as a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft and transferred him to the prosecutors’ office to serve his unserved six-month conviction.
Video footage recorded by several witnesses were later provided to the police as evidence, prosecutors added.
Chiu clearly saw that the woman was intoxicated and took advantage of her impaired consciousness, knowing she was unable to reject his advances, they said.
Prosecutors said they requested a seven-year sentence due to Chiu’s poor attitude after the crime and to serve as a warning to others.
Chiu initially confessed to the assault during questioning, but later recanted his confession during the investigation, they said.
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