On March 28th, a 4-year-old girl was beheaded with a cleaver in a random attack in Taipei’s Neihu district while she was trying to ride her bike on to a sidewalk. Her attacker was an unemployed, 33-year-old man with a history of mental illness and drug abuse. The tragedy was the third of its kind in five years. In 2012 and 2015, two other children died in random killings, and their murderers were sentenced to life in prison.
Several opinion polls have found that more than 70% of the public are opposed to the abolition of the death penalty. The mainstream opinion grows even stronger and more forceful whenever cold-blooded murders such as these shocked the nation. Soon after the gruesome killing of the young girl earlier this week, the Facebook page of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty was inundated with posts left by angry crowds who called for justice for the victims and their families.
Prior to the year 2000, Taiwan had a relatively high execution rate. But after several controversial court cases in the 1990s and with former President Chen Shui-bian's consideration of abolition, the number of executions dropped significantly. In 2005, there were only two executions in Taiwan.
In March of 2010, the abolition of the death penalty dominated the headlines before and after Justice Minister Wang Ching Feng resigned. Wang did not support capital punishment and she refused to sign the execution orders for 40 death row inmates.
The last executions that Taiwan carried out took place in December of 2012 with six convicted murderers put to death. As of March of 2016, Taiwan has 42 inmates on death row.
The Kuomintang (KMT), the second largest political party in the legislature, has demanded that President-elect Tsai Ing-wen make clear her stance on the death penalty. The KMT says it does not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum on the controversial issue.
Meanwhile, the White Rose Social Care Association, an organization that supports the death penalty, is planning to hold a rally on April 10th in front of the presidential office building. More than 64,000 web users have signed up to join in the event to voice their support.