TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The son of an elderly woman is suspected of storing his mother’s dead body in a refrigerator for five years in order to collect social welfare benefits in her name.
New Taipei City Social Welfare Department Commissioner Chang Ching-li (張錦麗) told media on Wednesday (Aug. 17) the department received reports Tuesday from social workers at a school that a female student with bruises on her body was possibly being physically abused by her father, CNA reported.
Social workers investigated the report and the student told them, “Grandma is hiding in the refrigerator.” The social workers contacted law enforcement to tell them what they heard from the girl, and a police investigation found the woman's body.
According to Chang, the son of the deceased woman told police that he put his mother’s body in the refrigerator for five years because the family was so poor that they could not afford a burial.
However, the social welfare department contradicted the son’s explanation, saying that due to the low-income status of the deceased woman, surnamed Chiang (蔣), the family was qualified to receive a subsidy for her burial.
According to an initial investigation, after Chiang passed away, the family did not report her death to the authorities, and therefore her name had not been removed from the household. However, the monthly subsidy of NT$7,759 (US$256) for low-income elderly allotted to Chiang was collected for six years from 2016 to 2022.
The city government said that further investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of Chiang’s death and identify the motive behind hiding her body. Placement for the girl has been arranged and a restraining order against her father has been obtained, the city government added, per CNA.
