Woman in Taiwan pours boiling soup on another’s face during fight over $870 debt
A fight over an alleged debt of NT$20,000 (S$870) left one woman with serious burns to her face and neck after another used boiling soup as a weapon against her on Friday morning at a karaoke lounge in Taiwan.
A video circulating on social media shows two women trading blows in a room in an entertainment venue while a seated man watches, as the music video for Taiwanese group MJ116’s Hot Chick plays on a screen.
Another man is seen getting involved by pulling the hair of one of the women – dressed in a white top – and dragging her across the room. He kicks her repeatedly, while she in turn pulls the hair of the other woman, who is wearing a grey crop top.
As the woman in grey manages to break loose, she picks up a pot of visibly steaming soup off a portable stove and pours its contents over the woman in the white top. The aggressor then flings the empty vessel at the victim’s head, causing the latter to scream as the woman in grey takes the opportunity to land more blows.
Police in central Taiwan’s Taichung city said they received a report at around 4.20am on Friday about an incident at a KTV lounge in Xitun district.
The chief of Taichung’s sixth-division police department said the fight started over a dispute related to a personal debt, and added that one woman was taken to hospital.
Another woman and two men were arrested for aggravated harm and the obstruction of freedom and later released on bail. The amount set for the 28-year-old woman, surnamed Chen, was the highest among the three suspects at NT$300,000. Investigations are ongoing.
The injured woman, 29, surnamed Sun, had burns to her face and neck and was hospitalised in the intensive care unit overnight owing to the severity of her injuries, the local media reported.
A separate video circulating online shows her standing outside the lounge, surrounded by police, with blisters on her face, while another woman alleged to be Chen tries to goad her to take a urine test.
Both women were working in the “Big Eight” services industry, according to the local media, referring to “special service” professions in Taiwan that include jobs at bars, dance clubs and saunas, among other entertainment venues.
Ms Sun was alleged to have taken a payment of NT$20,000 that was meant to be returned to an entertainment venue after an assignment.
Leaked messages between her and Chen revealed that their dispute had been simmering, with the two arranging to meet at the KTV lounge to sort out their disagreement, which then escalated into the fight and scalding.
Another leaked exchange indicated that Ms Sun had first hit out at Chen, who is pregnant, before one of the men got involved.
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