Elderly woman beaten up not related to hospital board election: suspect says
The 75-year-old wife of a deputy director of a hospital in Kaohsiung City was beaten up by a thug last Friday, but the incident was not related to a hospital board election she was about to attend, a suspect told police after his arrest, Tuesday, June 4.
At around 8:00am, Friday, May 31, Kaohsiung City police received a report from eyewitnesses that an elderly woman had been beaten up by a man dressed in black in a carpark in Lingya District.
According to reports including China Times, the man approached the woman and asked, “Are you Mrs Ruan (阮)?”
After Mrs Ruan replied, “yes,” the man then assailed her with a weapon described as “a wooden stick”, by China Times, and “an iron bar,” by Apple Daily.
The assailant fled after the attack, leaving Mrs Ruan with a broken nose, and a fractured left arm and left leg.
Not to be held back from attending the hospital board election, after arriving at Yuan’s General hospital in an ambulance, Mrs Ruan was taken to the meeting room on a wheeled stretcher, with a drip attached, and attended by a physician and nurses.
Police investigators accessed traffic monitors and found that the suspect had been waiting outside the parking lot waiting for Mrs Ruan to arrive.
According to Mrs Ruan’s daughter, there had been a history of disputes over the election with up to 10 people with voting rights on the hospital board having received threats and intimidation.
The cases had not been reported to police, but many members with voting rights over the election of the hospital director had abstained from attending the meeting.
Five days later, June 4, two suspects were arrested by police. A 38-year-old man named Song allegedly attacked Mrs Ruan, while a 56-year-old man named Hsin drove Song to the location.
Mr Song denied that the attack was related to the hospital board of director’s election, and claimed that he had a grievance with Mrs Ruan due to a traffic dispute. Mr Hsin claimed to be ignorant to Song’s motives or intent.
Song and Hsin are said to be both engaged in the funeral industry; an industry known to be dominated by organized crime gangs, and coincidentally also benefiting from good relationships with hospital managers.
Police investigators regarded the suspects’ testimony to be evasive, and handed them over to the district prosecutor to face charges of attempted murder.
Related Video
Sources: United Daily News, Apple Daily, China Times.
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.