Row on abused wife's sentence

SOCIAL welfare and women support groups in Taiwan decried the stiff sentence given to a woman accused of killing her husband after years of marital abuse.

They called on authorities to step up efforts to cope with high rates of domestic violence.

Teng Ju-wen, 25, told police in Panchiao, a Taipei suburb, that on the night of October 27 she had stabbed and killed her husband in his sleep after having been beaten by him that evening.

Her case focused attention on the problems of violence in marriage, particularly towards women. According to defence lawyer Wang Ju-hsuan, more than 20 similar murders related to domestic violence occurred during the last three years.

A panel of three judges this week sentenced Teng to five years and six months imprisonment for the murder of 44-year-old Lin Ah-chi. The court gave custody of their two children to Lin's family.

The court did not accept defence arguments that Teng should be shown mercy due to the extreme abuse she suffered during their seven-year marriage.

A wide range of women's groups, social welfare agencies and scholars have called for the drafting and enactment of a special law on domestic violence.

Rose Chi, a lawyer and director of the Awakening Foundation, said laws offering immediate separation, prompt police action and protection in the case of domestic violence in the US and Canada had resulted in lower rates of abuse.

A spokesman for Taipei City's ''Carnation Line'' said that the emergency line for women received about 150 calls a day.

Wang Ah-pao, director of the Warm Life Association for Women, noted that inequities in Taiwan's marriage laws left few legal routes for women.

A court decree of divorce for an abused party was possible, but required medical certification and doctors were often unwilling to become involved, she said.

Wang Ju-hsuan said another problem was with the judiciary because many judges did not appreciate the seriousness of domestic violence, and might even approve of it.

''When I asked one judge whether he beat his wife, he replied, 'sometimes, depending on circumstances','' she said.