People should avoid situations in which they could be alone with an abusive ex-partner, a police officer said on Sunday.
People experiencing abuse and who fear for their safety should call 110, and if they find themselves alone with an abusive person, they should try to escape to a crowded public area, said Lin Ching-chun (林敬群), the commander of Keelung Police Bureau’s Women and Children Protection Brigade.
Lin made the comments in reference to a case in which a college student was found guilty of sexually harassing his ex-partner in two separate incidents occurring in the same week in 2021.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The Keelung District Court said in a verdict dated May 26 that the defendant, identified as a 21-year-old man surnamed Chu (初), on Dec. 24, 2021, sexually harassed and briefly held captive a woman who was formerly his partner.
The victim, aged 19, was not identified in the publicly available court documents.
Chu requested to meet the victim in an empty classroom on the pretext of talking about their breakup, but held her there, forcibly kissing and touching her from about 4:30pm to 6pm, the ruling said.
Five days later, the victim encountered Chu in a school building, where she was to attend a night class at 8:20pm, it said.
The defendant dragged the victim from the building’s elevator area to a sofa in a hallway, where he battered and molested her, it said.
The victim sustained contusions and scrapes on her scalp, right arm, right hand and knees during the struggle, and was kept in the area against her will until about 9pm, it said.
After the victim filed a criminal complaint, Keelung law enforcement authorities investigated the incident and found security camera footage from the school that corroborated her story, it said.
A genetic sample collected from the victim’s lips matched Chu’s DNA, it said.
Although Chu initially denied the accusations, he later admitted to attacking, harassing and holding the victim captive in both incidents and struck a plea deal during the trial, the court said.
The court said that Chu was to serve a prison sentence of seven months that can be commuted to a fine, as well as pay the victim an undisclosed sum in compensation as per the terms of the plea bargain Chu made with prosecutors.
The court handed down a relatively light sentence in consideration of the plea bargain and the settlement between Chu and the victim, it added.
Those subjected to stalking should call the police for protection and get a restraining order, Lin said, citing the Stalking and Harassment Prevention Act (跟蹤騷擾防制法).
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS