Taiwan High Court Upholds Death Penalty For Malaysian Student S Killer

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A file picture of Liang Yu-chih talking to reporters outside a police station. (CNA pic)
KAOHSIUNG: The Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch today upheld the death sentence for a man found guilty of raping and murdering a Malaysian student.
According to a Central News Agency report, the court, following a retrial, said in a statement that the sentence was upheld due to Liang Yu-chih’s intention to kill, the cruelty of his actions and the high risk of him reoffending.
On Oct 28, 2020, Liang abducted the victim, a college student studying in Taiwan, when she was walking alone near her school in Tainan.
He then raped her, beat her and strangled her to death, before taking her wallet and other belongings and dumping her body in Alian district in neighbouring Kaohsiung city.
The court said Liang’s actions were premeditated, as he concealed himself while holding a prepared length of coarse rope, which he then used with brutal force to strangle the 24-year-old.
It said Liang displayed extreme cruelty during the assault, inflicting injuries that caused bleeding in multiple organs and areas of the victim’s body.
The court also said it had found Liang guilty of attempting to rape another woman on Sept 30, 2020, in its previous trial.
The Taiwan Ciaotou District Court handed Liang a death sentence in March 2022 for robbery, rape and intentional killing.
He was also sentenced to two years’ jail for abandoning a body and 34 months in prison for attempted rape.
The High Court Kaohsiung Branch upheld the sentence in March 2023.
In June that year, the Supreme Court dismissed Liang’s appeal of his sentences for abandoning a body and attempted rape.
However, it ordered a retrial of the rape and intentional homicide charges at the High Court’s Kaohsiung Branch, citing flaws in the original trial.
Lee Shu-hui, the High Court Kaohsiung Branch administrative chief judge, said the three judges in the case unanimously decided to uphold the death penalty.
The case was the first death sentence verdict after the Constitutional Court ruled in September 2024 that capital punishment is only constitutional for “the most serious” premeditated murders and crimes leading to death. - FMT

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