Dad throws baby into boiling water

BARELY 10 months old, the little girl has had to suffer pain that's as excruciating as 'being slashed by a thousand knives'.

That was what happened in Changhua county, Taiwan, on Saturday after her alcoholic father threw her into boiling water following an argument with his live-in girlfriend.

The father known only as Mr Huang, 47, runs a noodle factory with his girlfriend, Ms Lin, 45.

After finishing his deliveries at 5am that day, Mr Huang met one of the stallholders for a drink. They had sorghum wine which is high in alcohol content.

Mr Huang returned to his noodle factory only at about 10am. By then, Ms Lin was livid.

She was carrying their baby in one arm, and stirring noodles in a gigantic wok of boiling water in another.

She reprimanded him: 'We are already so busy at work, and you still have time to go drinking?'

An argument broke out. It reached a point where Ms Lin dared Mr Huang to throw their 10-month-old daughter into the boiling water.

Anger

In a fit of anger, Mr Huang allegedly snatched the baby from Ms Lin and dumped her into the wok.

The baby wailed in pain. Although a shocked Ms Lin managed to whisk the baby out, the damage had been done.

Ninety per cent of her body was scalded, but her head and neck region were spared.

Ms Lin then flushed the baby with cold water but while removing the clothing, part of the baby's skin came off, adding to the pain.

Terrified, she ran home with the crying baby in her arms and got her younger brother to drive them to hospital.

Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam. Desperate, Ms Lin got out of the car and carried the baby to a nearby police station.

The police placed the baby in a basin of cold water and called for an ambulance.

The baby was later sent to the burns unit of Changhua Christian Hospital.

As her temperature was too low, her blood pressure was unstable, and she was crying non-stop, the doctor decided to inject her with an anaesthetic.

She is still in a critical condition, reported Apple Daily Taiwan.

A doctor described the baby's pain as 'being slashed by a thousand knives', and almost 10 times worse than labour pains.

When police arrived at Mr Huang's factory to arrest him, he was by his wok, cooking noodles, as if nothing had happened.

At the police station, he said: 'I don't mean to put the baby in the boiling water. I really regret what I did after having a drop too much.'

He will face charges of attempting to kill his daughter.

Mr Huang's neighbours told Apple Daily that he and Ms Lin were both divorced and had been cohabiting for 12 years.

They have another daughter, who is in Primary 5, and has been sent to a welfare home temporarily.

Neighbours said they have often seen the couple fighting, especially after Mr Huang has had too much to drink.

Said one of them: 'He's really a cold-blooded animal. This kind of father just ought to be shot.'

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