Advocacy groups call for better public safety after Hongkonger raped in Taiwan

Advocacy groups have called for improved public safety and bystander intervention after an intoxicated Hong Kong tourist was allegedly raped in broad daylight last week by a fugitive at Taiwan’s largest and busiest rail station.

The attack at Taipei Main Station on the afternoon of October 9 lasted about 10 minutes amid the holiday rush, with no passers-by stepping in to help, according to the Railway Police Bureau and media in Taiwan on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old suspect surnamed Chiu and the woman knew each other, having met four days prior, and the act was not a random attack, they added.

The pair had been drinking heavily with several friends in the station’s east side lobby for hours before the incident.

Police were alerted to the assault, which took place against a wall in the main ticketing hall, by a Malaysian university student who witnessed the incident.

The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and the Judicial Reform Foundation issued a joint statement saying the incident, which occurred despite the presence of multiple surveillance cameras, showed that safety monitoring mechanisms had failed.