Taipei: The mother of a Malaysian university student murdered in Taiwan in 2020 criticized a court ruling that overturned an earlier death sentence handed to her daughter’s killer.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Taiwan High Court Kaohsiung Branch overturned the death sentence, stating that the case did not meet the legal threshold of the “most serious offense” required for capital punishment under a 2024 Constitutional Court ruling. The ruling is subject to appeal.

In a statement issued to the media, the victim’s mother expressed her inability to accept or understand the court’s reasoning. She argued that the decision placed the possibility of rehabilitation above professionally assessed risks of reoffending in the brutal rape and murder case. She noted that while the court acknowledged the brutality of the crime, psychiatric assessments had identified Liang as posing a high risk of recidivism and as being difficult to rehabilitate in the short term. Despite this, the ruling treated the expectation of future rehabilitation as a decisive factor in sparing him the harshest punishment.

The victim’s mother questioned how a case involving escalating violence, the use of lethal tools, and professional warnings of a high risk of reoffending could still fail to qualify as the most serious crime under the law. She emphasized that she was not asking the courts to act on emotion or deny the defendant’s right to due process but urged the judiciary to reflect on whether public safety and the protection of potential victims were being given sufficient weight in sentencing decisions.

Recalling her daughter’s final moments, she highlighted the fear, pain, and helplessness her child endured, which remain as lasting trauma for her family. She stated that the case was not only a personal tragedy but also a question the justice system must confront.

Liang Yu-chih, convicted of raping and murdering the Malaysian student in 2020, had previously been sentenced to death in the first trial, the second trial, and a retrial. The court cited a lack of proven premeditated murder and said rehabilitation remained possible through life imprisonment combined with psychological treatment.