A 17-year-old Taiwanese boy has been arrested for chopping off his father's hands, allegedly to avenge years of physical abuse, a police official said Tuesday.
The boy cut through his father's wrists with a knife while he was asleep at the family's home in central Miaoli on Monday, the official said. The official was speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
The 37-year-old father, a divorced ironsmith, was in stable condition after doctors reattached his severed hands, the official said.
The father and son were identified only by their surname, Fan.
Reportedly confesses
The police official said the boy admitted to cutting his father's hands off and showed no remorse, complaining that he was beaten after refusing to get a job while attending school.
The Apple Daily newspaper quoted the boy as telling police that since his mother left home some 10 years before, his father had frequently beat him and even tossed a chair or other objects at him.
The boy said he bought a knife and planned to kill his father two days earlier after his father reprimanded him for refusing to work and denied him allowances, the report said.
The boy has been handed over to a juvenile court that will decide whether to file charges.
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