A 22-year-old man in Taichung, Taiwan has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for fatally abusing his newborn son, whom he and his wife left alone at home to play video games.
According to reports, the man, surnamed Zhuang, and his 20-year-old wife, Wu, welcomed a baby boy in July last year.
Source: SeventyFour on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Barely 10 days after the child’s birth, Zhuang began to abuse him for crying, using increasingly violent methods that ultimately led to the infant’s death.
Investigations revealed that Zhuang first pinched the baby’s ears with his fingernails, leaving open wounds.
On 5, 7, and 23 Aug, he shook the infant violently, and on 12 August, he placed the child on his lap and slapped him three to four times.
On 10, 13, and 19 Aug, he tossed the baby into the air and caught him, causing the infant’s head to shake violently.
The child, who was less than a month old, sustained multiple internal injuries.
Then, on the night of 25 Aug, Zhuang and Wu left their sleeping son alone in their rented flat while they went to a neighbour’s house to play video games and chat.
Source: Zurijeta on Canva, for illustration purposes only
When they returned after midnight, they found the baby pale and unresponsive.
The couple rushed their son to hospital on their scooter around midnight, where doctors managed to restore his heartbeat after emergency treatment.
He was then transferred to another hospital for further care.
However, the baby died on 6 Sept from multiple complications, including bleeding in the skull, brain swelling, oxygen deprivation, and a small brain abscess.
As the infant’s body bore numerous bruises and wounds, medical staff alerted the police, leading authorities to uncover the extent of the abuse he had suffered.
During investigations, Zhuang admitted to abusing his son but claimed he did so out of frustration and to draw his wife’s attention so she would help care for the child.
Source: ETtoday
The Taichung District Court found that while Zhuang had no intention to kill, his repeated acts of violence directly caused the baby’s death.
Judges noted that although he took the infant to hospital immediately after discovering something was wrong, showing some remorse, this did not excuse his actions.
The court rejected any sentence reduction for voluntary surrender, mental impairment, or compassion, ruling that Zhuang’s behaviour deprived the newborn of the right to live and grow up.
His violence, the court said, stemmed from a need to vent stress and frustration, not from an inability to control himself.
Zhuang was convicted of causing death through intentional injury to a child by an adult and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. He may appeal the verdict.
Also read: US mother kills 8-month-old son with boiling bath water for soiling his diaper
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Featured image adapted from ETtoday and Michael Morse on Canva, for illustration purposes only.