Foreign caregiver sentenced to 6 months for abandoning patient

Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) A caregiver of Indonesian nationality has been handed a six-month prison sentence, convertible to a fine, by the Chiayi District Court for abandoning a helpless patient.

Cicih Nurhayati, the defendant, will be deported after serving her term, according to the verdict released last Thursday.

The case can be appealed.

The court found the caregiver guilty of violating Article 294 of the Criminal Code.

It stipulates that anyone who is bound by law, order, or contract to support or protect a helpless person but abandons the person or does not give them support or protection necessary to preserve their life, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than six months but not more than five years.

The court said that the six-month penalty, the lowest allowed under Article 294, was given based on the defendant's confession and the minimal damage caused by the crime.

The court based its ruling on the information presented by prosecutors in their indictment.

It said the Indonesian caregiver was employed in March 2020 as a live-in 24-hour caregiver to a man surnamed Lin (林), who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy and has chronic respiratory failure accompanied by symptoms of hypoxia.

Lin can only control his facial and finger muscles and requires constant care to prevent life-threatening situations such as nasal obstruction, his respirator falling off, or the device malfunctioning, according to the indictment.

In September 2021, after her request for a leave was denied, Cicih packed up her things and left the residence at around 1 a.m., leaving behind Lin, who was helpless to survive on his own, the indictment said.

Later, after receiving no response from Cicih, Lin called his mother, who had hired Cicih, using the voice-activation function on his mobile phone to notify her of the situation.

Cicih admitted to the crime during police questioning soon after it occurred but repeatedly failed to respond to prosecutors' summons, and was later indicted for abandoning a helpless person in violation of her contractual duties, said the indictment, filed in December 2021.

Since that time, however, the Indonesian national had been unaccounted for before she reappeared earlier this year and turned herself over to the court.

Asked by CNA about the court's verdict in the case, Kadir, a labor affairs analyst at the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei (IETO), said that they "respect the legal process that is under way in Taiwan."