Man indicted for fatal abuse of 2-year-old girl in Taichung

(Central News Agency, reporter Su Muchun, Taichung, June 3) A 44-year-old man surnamed Lin lived with his girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter in Taichung. From November 2025 to February 2026, Lin allegedly abused the child by beating, throwing, locking her in a washing machine, binding her with tape, and burning her with a hairdryer, resulting in her death. The Taichung District Prosecutors Office indicted Lin on June 1 on charges of abuse resulting in death. The case will be heard by a citizen court of the Taichung District Court. According to the indictment, Lin, his girlfriend (separately indicted for negligent homicide), and the child began living together in a rental property in Taiping District, Taichung, in early October 2025, later moving to Beitun District. In late November 2025, Lin picked up the child and threw her into a washing machine, closing the lid. After his girlfriend intervened, he made the child stand in the living room as punishment. When the child cried, Lin wrapped transparent tape around her forehead and hands. His girlfriend cut the tape, and Lin then locked the child in a closet and a bathroom. In December 2025, Lin beat the child's eyes, causing bruising and swelling. From January to February 2026, Lin repeatedly beat the child with his hands and an extendable rod, threw her against walls and beds, and used a hairdryer to burn her swollen thigh, causing burns. The abuse resulted in head trauma, skull fractures, brain damage, and fractures to her left upper arm and left thigh, leaving her unable to walk. Lin took the child to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic for treatment. From February 10, 2026, the child showed symptoms of confusion, lethargy, and slow reactions, eventually developing sepsis from infected wounds and dying on February 14. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1150603