DistantNews
Support us
🇹🇼 Taiwan /Crime & Justice

Taiwan court jails man for smelling woman's train seat

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • A man was sentenced to 45 days in jail for stalking and harassing a woman on public transport in Taiwan.
  • The man repeatedly smelled the woman's seat after she stood up and engaged in sexually suggestive behavior on the train.
  • The victim changed her commute route due to distress, but the man tracked her down, leading to his arrest and conviction under the stalking and harassment prevention law.

A man in Taiwan has been sentenced to 45 days in jail for stalking and sexually harassing a woman on public transport. The court found the man, identified by the surname Jiang, guilty of violating the stalking and harassment prevention law.

The victim's seat cushion was smelled and sucked by the man after she got up.

— Court document summaryDescribing the man's actions on the train.

The victim reported that Jiang would wait for her at train stations, and after she left her seat, he would kneel and smell the cushion she had been sitting on. He also allegedly sat opposite her on the train, exposing himself and touching his genitals while looking at her.

The victim was terrified, experiencing immense mental stress and endocrine disorders.

— Article textDetailing the impact of the harassment on the victim.

Distressed by the behavior, the woman changed her commute route to avoid him. However, Jiang managed to track her to the new route, boarding the train and searching carriages to find her. He then resumed his harassing actions, including smelling her seat and engaging in sexually suggestive behavior in front of her.

The man claimed that smelling the woman's seat was just because he felt 'happy, joyful, and playful.'

— Jiang's defense lawyerPresenting the defendant's justification for his actions.

During the trial, Jiang denied the charges, with his lawyer claiming the train route was his "necessary commute" and that smelling the seat was done out of "happiness and fun." The judge rejected these claims, stating that Jiang's actions were clearly related to sex and caused the victim significant fear. Given the victim's refusal to forgive him and Jiang's lack of remorse, the judge denied a suspended sentence and imposed the jail term, which can be commuted to a fine. The verdict is subject to appeal.

The judge ruled that the man's actions, including kneeling to smell the seat and publicly touching his genitals, were 'absolutely not unrelated to sex or gender' in common understanding and caused the victim severe fear.

— Judge's ruling summaryExplaining the legal basis for the conviction.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog