Taiwan Media and News Dominated by Coverage of a Most Senseless and Tragic Child Attack

I don’t even know where to start trying to write a news post like this. This is news news and not entertainment fluff news, but it’s so shocking and devastating that it’s taken over every single media outlet in Taiwan and for good reason. On Monday morning March 28, 2016, a senseless act of violence shook up the island and fractured the tenuous hope in humanity and goodness. The entire country is grieving today, and from an entertainment industry perspective stars are part of the collective mourning process as they post odes and hopeful words.

I won’t write what happened until after the jump for those who are squeamish, or simply did not come to this blog to read about terrible things happening to innocent people. But this news is noteworthy because it puts entertainment on the back burner and asks that we all take a moment to hug a loved one and do something good for our fellow man. Because evil lurks and it may strike at any time, any place. My most sincere condolences to the family of the victim, and for those who have not read about this news and wish to hear what happened then click further, but warning that a picture may be graphic.

On Monday March 28th, a little four year old Taiwanese girl was riding her bike to the nearby Metro station with her mother walking a few yards behind her, the two going to meet up for lunch with the little girl’s two older siblings and a grandparent. A random man stopped her at an intersection and used his meat cleaver to decapitate the little four year old girl right before her mother’s eyes.

The mother saw the attack and rushed to stop him but the man was too strong and pushed her off. The assailant was apprehended immediately and is reported an unemployed thirty-something who may have recently gone to the hospital for psychiatric treatment. After being arrested, he was assaulted by rabid masses who heard of the horrific crime and assembled outside the police station when he was being transferred to jail.

The parents of the little girl have publicly asked that their daughter’s death not become a talking point in the ongoing public debate about reviving the death penalty in Taiwan. The mother has posted a gutwrenching open letter to her daughter to express her grief, and the Taiwanese public has transformed the intersection of the crime sight into a massive and ever growing memorial to a four year old who never had a chance to grow up.