The suspect in a 4-year-old girl's decapitation, Wang Ching-yu (wearing a helmet), is escorted to a detention center in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday.(HUANG SHIQI/CHINA DAILY)

Brutal daytime murder leads to intensified death penalty debate

The death of a 4-year-old girl, who was beheaded on Monday in a knife attack in Taiwan, has sparked widespread public anger on the island and criticism of calls to abolish the death penalty.

The attack is said to have taken place as the child was cycling toward a metro station with her mother in Taipei.

Police said a 33-year-old man attacked and decapitated the girl with a cleaver in full view of her mother. Bystanders heard the mother's screams and rushed to restrain the attacker until police arrived.

The suspect, Wang Ching-yu had been arrested in the past for drug-related crimes and had twice sought medical treatment for mental illness after physical altercations with his family, police said.

Television footage on Monday showed angry people gathered outside a police station in Taipei where the suspect was being held. Some attacked the suspect as he was being transferred to the prosecutor's office for questioning.

Many went to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed.

Taiwan resumed capital punishment in 2010 after a five-year hiatus. Executions are reserved for serious crimes, including aggravated murder and kidnapping, but politicians are divided over whether or not to retain it.

Hung Hsiuchu, leader of the Kuomintang, wrote on her Facebook page that the crime is "unforgivable".

"Can you accept abolishing the death penalty (under such circumstances)?" Hung said in an interview on Monday. She was elected the KMT leader on Saturday.

This is the second child-killing case in Taiwan in a year.

In May 2015, an 8-year-old girl was slashed to death in her school by a 29-year-old man who reportedly had a mental illness.

Tsai Ing-wen, a Democratic Progressive Party politician who will become the island's top leader in May, said in an interview in June 2015 that she believes the death penalty has to be considered along with other measures, and protecting public security is most important.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, an NGO on the island, said now is not the moment to discuss abolishing the death penalty.

"Concern for the victim and victim's family is the most important," the organization said.

Ruan Chuansheng, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai, said that removal of the death penalty should be given second thought.

"It's a serious case and the way the suspect killed the girl was cruel. But it is an individual case," Ruan said. "I know some legal professionals discussed canceling the death penalty and the view has reached an agreement across the world. There are some countries that do not have such extreme punishment. But whether to remove the death penalty and when to remove it should be in line with regional reality."

On Tuesday, another knife attack happened at Taipei's metro station. A policeman was stabbed three times by a 28-year-old man and sent to hospital, China News Service reported.

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