Taxi Driver Accused of Drugging and Sexually Assaulting Korean Tourists
A taxi driver in New Taipei City has been arrested after allegedly drugging and sexually abusing two Korean women January 13.
Three Korean women hired the driver over a two day period to take them on tours around northern Taiwan. On the second day, the driver gave each of the women a popular lactic acid drink – Yakult, at a location near Jiufen. Two of the women drank the contents, while a third felt it tasted bitter after taking just one sip.
The taxi proceeded to the Shihlin Night Market in Taipei City. The two women who consumed the drinks were fast asleep when they arrived, so the third woman left them in the cab and arranged for the driver to pick her up after she made a tour of the market.
The driver parked in a secluded location nearby where he allegedly sexually assaulted at least one of the sleeping women.
After taking the three women back to their hotel in Ximen District, the two drugged women slept all night and most of the following day. One of the women had vague memories of waking up during the sexual assault.
Media reports about the incident began to emerge yesterday, Saturday, January 14, after the women made an appeal for help on social media. They asked for someone who could speak Chinese to help report the incident.
The driver, Mr Chan, who lives in Tucheng District turned himself in at a police station in Shihlin District Saturday evening. Police found a syringe and suspicious powder in his taxi.
Mr Chan confessed that he had injected the drinks with powder made from sleeping pills, and that he had groped one of the women.
Yakult is a popular drink sold in every convenience store and supermarket in Taiwan. It is even sold at roadside stalls, and by people who target cars stopped at red lights at certain intersections. While most drinks in Taiwan have a tamper-proof lid, Yakult has a foil lid, sometimes covered in a thin plastic film if bought in packs of 5, or 10.
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