TAIPEI – The family of a female Malaysian university student who was murdered by a Taiwanese man in 2022 will receive a compensation of NT$1.8 million (US$56,502, or RM262,580), the Shilin District Prosecutors Office told Central News Agency (CNA) on Friday.
The Malaysian student, surnamed Chai, had met her killer, Taiwanese man Chen Po-yen, on Instagram and was murdered by him just a week after they started dating last year.
The compensation was sought by Chai’s family under the assistance of the Association for Victims Support, who followed up with the family and provided legal assistance.
The sum was then determined by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in accordance with the Crime Victim Rights Protection Act during a conference held in late August.
Chai, who was 24 years old at the time of her death, was studying in a Taipei university.
Her body was found in her rented apartment on Dadong Road in Taipei’s Shilin District on October 13, 2022.
An autopsy performed on October 16 found that Chai died of suffocation, and she also had a broken neck.
As the investigation continued, prosecutors said they found that Chen strangled Chai’s with his bare hands until she suffocated to death, while using a pillow to cover her eyes.
Chai’s death was brought to light on October 13 last year by New Taipei police after Chen revealed he had killed the Malaysian student, while he was being rushed to the hospital due to what police believed at the time to be a suicide attempt.
When Chen was discharged from the hospital on October 17, he was arrested and held by police for questioning in the case. He later confessed to killing Chai, whom he had been dating for less than a week, according to the police.
He claimed it was an accident and said he had only intended to scare Chai after he failed to convince the victim to give him NT$99,999.
Aside from her studies, Chai had been working part-time as a model and a live streamer on social media, police said, adding that the couple first got to know each other in April via Instagram and began dating on October 7 that year.
Prosecutors later discovered that Chai had told her friends the day before she died that she was also having second thoughts about going out with Chen. – September 1, 2023