A man attacked and beheaded a four-year-old girl in Taiwan as she and her mother headed to a metro station in Taipei.
Claire Wang and her child were riding next to each other on bicycles when the sidewalk trapped the child’s bike. Her mother saw the man approach her child and thought he would help her.
“I saw the suspect slashing my daughter with a cleaver. I immediately grabbed him but I could not pull him away,” she told Central News Agency (CNA).
Others rushed to her side when she screamed. They managed to pin him to the ground until police got there.
Authorities identified him as 33-year-old Wang Ching-yu. They “arrested him in 2006 for possessing amphetamine.” They also sent him to hospitals “for treatment twice between October 2010 and October 2014 after quarreling with his family due to ‘his mental illness.'”
Police discovered over 29 notebooks to be used as evidence of his mental illness. CNA did not report if the police explained exactly what they found in the journals. They did not find any illegal drugs at his home.
Wang has shown bravery and strength after the murder of her child.
“I believe the suspects in these kinds of random killings lose their minds at that moment,” she said. “This is not a problem that can be solved by passing a law. I hope we can address the problem from its root, from the perspective of family and education, so that there will no longer be people like him (the perpetrator) in our society.”
She also expressed her feelings on social media.
“Please keep trusting people because the society is still beautiful and please give your dearest family members a hug. That would be the most comforting and caring thing you could do for us,” she wrote on Facebook.
The case has rekindled the death penalty debate in Taiwan. Legislator Wang Yu-min asked the public to support “her proposal that would stipulate automatic death penalties, or life sentences under specific circumstances, for people who murder children under the age of 12.” Newly elected President Tsai Ing-wen wants the country to tackle these crimes through education and the economy while improving help for mental health issues.
Claire Wang, though, does not want anyone to use her daughter to push their agendas.
“My baby had an accident and died,” she cried. “If you sympathize with us, pity us or care about us, please wait at least a week to 10 days until our emotions have settled, before discussing the issue.”