The Supreme Court recently upheld the sentence of 13 years and two months in prison handed down by a lower court to the live-in boyfriend of a woman whose 3-year-old daughter died at a hospital in Tainan in 2021 after being subjected to long-term physical abuse.
The girl was born to the woman surnamed Fang (?) and her ex-husband but had initially been looked after by relatives. However, on July 1, 2021, Fan took the child back to Tainan to live with her and her boyfriend surnamed Hu (?), according to law enforcement.
From late July to late August 2021, the couple often became infuriated when the child cried and frequently beat her with a mop handle or their bare hands, according to authorities.
In the early morning of Aug. 29, Fang and Hu returned home to find the girl listless and unable to control her bowel movements. However, they did not take her to a hospital until the next night after Hu once again beat the child, resulting in her falling into a coma.
The girl died of her injuries later that day at National Cheng Kong University Hospital.
On January 19, 2022, Tainan District Court sentenced Fang to 13 years and six months and Hu to 13 years and two months for the abuse of the child, hindering development and causing her death in violation of the “Implementation Act of the Convention on the Right of the Child.”
In October last year, the High Court Tainan Branch upheld the sentences handed down to Fang and Hu.
Fang did not appeal against the ruling, while Hu’s appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court. The judgment is final.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel