Woman sentenced to 4.5 years for Taipei Metro box cutter attack

New Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) A woman was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for attacking a high school student with a box cutter on the Taipei Metro in 2024, after the New Taipei District Court found she suffered from schizophrenia, according to the written judgment released Tuesday.

After completing her sentence, the defendant, identified as Wang Ching-ssu (王靖絲), must spend two years under court-ordered residential psychiatric supervision due to her condition, the court said in its verdict handed down on Oct. 22.

On Nov. 8, 2024, Wang attacked a male student, surnamed Cheng (鄭), on a Taipei Metro Bannan Line train with a box cutter, after auditory hallucinations, hearing "mocking remarks" and mistaking him for a stalker, the court said.

She struck Cheng in the head and neck, causing lacerations to his left cheek, neck and ear, before the student and bystanders managed to restrain her, the court said.

Wang said during questioning that she did not know Cheng and claimed to have previously been stalked and harassed, which led her to believe Cheng was following her when she heard the voices, prompting the attack, according to the court.

Wang was indicted for attempted murder by New Taipei prosecutors in December 2024.

However, after reviewing Wang's medical records and psychiatric evaluations, the court accepted that she suffers from schizophrenia, which impaired her perception, judgment and impulse control at the time of the crime, warranting a reduced sentence.

Although attempted murder in Taiwan is punishable by death, life imprisonment, or a minimum of 10 years in prison, the Criminal Code allows reduced sentences if a mental disorder impairs the offender's judgment.

The ruling is subject to appeal.