A Taiwanese employer is being held in police custody in Yilan County, in northeast Taiwan, on suspicion that he may have been involved in the death of a Thai illegal migrant worker, reported Taiwan’s Liberty Times.
The Thai man went to Taiwan on a tourist visa, but worked illegally in Yilan until Tuesday. The Thai consular office in Taiwan sought local police help after the Thai man’s relatives in Thailand filed complaint with Thai police, reporting that they had been unable to contact him for quite some time.
Yilan County police subsequently found the body of the Thai man near a cemetery and summoned the decedent’s Taiwanese employer for questioning.
According to the English-language Taiwanese newspaper, the employer, identified only as “Mr. Lin”, initially denied knowing anything about the man’s death, but eventually admitted that he knew that he had died.
He claimed that the Thai man was a heavy drinker and fell ill last week, adding that he did not see a doctor, but took over-the-counter medications. On Monday morning, the man’s Thai girlfriend found him lifeless in his room and alerted Lin.
Lin claimed that he was afraid of legal action, for employing an undocumented worker, and convinced the girlfriend and two other Thai employees to dispose of the body near a cemetery.
Police are attempting to determine the actual cause of death, according to Taiwanese media.
Photo : Man surnamed Lin is questioned by police on May 28. (Yilan County Government Police Bureau photo)
