Taiwan sexual assault murderer avoids death penalty

台灣性侵犯兇手判免死刑

Killers of mentally challenged teenage girl can be re-educated: Taiwan High Court

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan High Court ruled Tuesday (Dec. 24) that the five principal offenders who tortured a mentally challenged teenage girl after sexually assaulting her in 2015 had been sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death penalty.

According to Liberty Times, the Hsinchu City native Lin Chuen-Shyong (林春雄) was displeased by the 14-year-old teenage girl surnamed Chiu (邱)'s remark against his girlfriend Huang Xiaoyun (黃曉雲) at an internet cafe, and decided to take revenge on the intellectually disabled girl. Lin and four of his accomplices forced Chiu into a nearby alley and beat her with bamboo sticks and motorcycle helmets before pedestrians stepped in.

The five culprits then took Chiu to an open area under the Zhulin Bridge and gang-raped the severely injured girl before leaving for a karaoke bar. Upon their return, the offenders found that Chiu had died from excessive blood loss and proceeded to burn her body with gasoline in order to cover up their misdeeds, reported CNA.

Lin was originally convicted by the High Court of first-degree murder and sentenced to capital punishment at the first two instances in 2016 and in June, 2019 while the other four perpetrators received life time imprisonment. However, Lin was removed of his death penalty charge on Tuesday’s retrial.

The Taiwan High Court said that the decision was made based on the judges' belief that the five defendants had shown signs of remorse and could be re-educated. The Court claimed that the group did not intend to kill Chiu, therefore the incident should not be considered as a first degree homicide, reported UDN.

The verdict, although not final, has attracted waves of criticism from Taiwanese citizens, including popular actor William Hsieh (謝祖武), who bashed the judges for allowing "demons" to roam on the streets. Since criminals in Taiwan can be released on parole, even after sentenced to life imprisonment, the death penalty debate was stirred up once again.

Despite the Taiwan government's desire to phase out death penalties due to pressure from human rights activists, many Taiwanese still believe that capital punishment is necessary for a safe society. Chiu's murder has also been linked to the widely-discussed "Little Light Bulb" case, in which a three-year-old girl was struck 23 times by the schizophrenic killer Wang Ching-yu (王景玉) in 2016.