Taiwan teen chops off dad's hands

Tuesday 29th September, 07:04 PM JST

TAIPEI, Taiwan —

A 17-year-old Taiwanese boy has been arrested for chopping off his father’s hands, allegedly to avenge years of physical abuse, a police official said Tuesday.

The boy cut through his father’s wrists with a knife while he was asleep at the family’s home in central Miaoli on Monday, the official said. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The 37-year-old father, a divorced ironsmith, was in stable condition after doctors reattached his severed hands, the official said.

The father and son were identified only by their surname, Fan.

The police official said the boy admitted to cutting his father’s hands off and showed no remorse, complaining that he was beaten after refusing to get a job while attending school.

The Apple Daily newspaper quoted the boy as telling police that since his mother left home some 10 years ago, his father had frequently beat him and even tossed a chair or other objects at him.

The boy said he bought a knife and planned to kill his father two days earlier after his father reprimanded him for refusing to work and denied him allowances, the report said.

The boy has been handed over to a juvenile court that will decide whether to file charges.

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7 Comments

ilcub76 at 09:15 PM JST - 29th September

How could the father not wake up while getting his hands cut off? He may have been stupid-drunk and not felt any pain. If the kid's allegations are true, I see no problem with this action. Any parent who abuses their child gets anything that's coming to them.
Sarge at 09:21 PM JST - 29th September

Jeepers creepers!

Did this boy not seek help when he was being beaten by his father?
rajakumar at 09:24 PM JST - 29th September

Dysunctional family on the rise in Taiwan and Worldwide. It is worldwide happening these days, social problems and family woes on the rise.
smithinjapan at 11:19 PM JST - 29th September

ilcub76: "If the kid's allegations are true, I see no problem with this action. Any parent who abuses their child gets anything that's coming to them."

Not at all. The man deserved a LONG stint in jail and some abuse in there (and perhaps a bit of a beat down by the kid and/or police), but you can't say they simply deserve what's 'coming to them' because everyone has a different definition of what such monsters deserve. Furthermore, even as you point out the allegations have yet to be confirmed, and to what length extent they went on. NO abuse is forgivable, but, "The boy said he bought a knife and planned to kill his father two days earlier after his father reprimanded him for refusing to work and denied him allowances, the report said" sounds pretty shallow.

We shall see when more details come to light. Either way, rather shocking event.
Badsey at 11:20 PM JST - 29th September

Fighting the hands that feed you -taken literally.
Azrael at 01:09 AM JST - 30th September

This sounds like a hoax. How did he cut two hands while the father was asleep? Severing a hand no matter how sharp the knife takes time, unless you get a machete or something like a sword. Also, how did the hands get reattached by the doctors? That is kind of a breakthrough in medicine, considering how many bones compose the human wrist (guessing that the two forearm bones are too hard for a teenager to saw off, the wrist seems a better choice in this context). So how didn't the father wake up during all the operation? An ironsmith (blacksmith?) must certainly have a killer punch, and one good jab in self-defense would have kept him at one hand safe, at least.
yosun at 01:10 AM JST - 30th September

I read Taiwan newspaper that the father took another woman home so his wife left 10 years ago. Anyway it might be the worst outcome the man broke down his family and the son deserves to stay in jail until he really grow up that his father didn't teach him. Like father like son, what an expensive lesson!