Kaohsiung couple detained for abuse after 2-year-old daughter's death

Kaohsiung, Oct. 11 (CNA) A Kaohsiung court on Saturday approved a request by prosecutors to detain a couple on suspicion of fatally abusing their 2-year-old daughter.

The Kaohsiung City Fire Department said it responded to a call for an ambulance at the family's Sanmin District home at 8:28 p.m. Thursday, and arrived to find a child in a out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

The child, a 2-year-old girl, was later pronounced dead, and the case was transferred to prosecutors to investigate the circumstances.

In a statement on Sunday, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' office said it conducted an examination and autopsy on the child Friday to establish whether a crime had been committed.

In addition to the 2-year-old's suspicious death, the family's 1-year-old boy was also found to have likely suffered abuse, prosecutors said.

On Saturday, prosecutors questioned the children's parents -- the father surnamed Hsiung (熊) and the mother surnamed Deng (鄧) -- and determined that both had likely committed the crimes of causing intentional harm to a child and impeding the development of a child under age 7.

According to prosecutors, Hsiung is also suspected of drug use. A request to hold both Hsiung and Deng in incommunicado detention was approved by the Kaohsiung District Court on Saturday, the statement said.

As of Sunday, the family's 1-year-old son remained in hospital under observation, while the eldest sister, who is under age 7, was placed in protective care, prosecutors said.