Taipei: A court ruled in a civil proceeding on Thursday that a Taiwanese man who was sentenced to life in prison in January 2024 for murdering a Malaysian student must pay over NT$6 million (US$196,020) in compensation to the victim's family. According to Focus Taiwan, the Shilin District Court stated that Chen Po-yen must pay NT$3,010,355 and NT$3,369,999 to the mother and father of the female university student he strangled to death, with interest to be calculated annually at 5 percent from August 2023. The court's ruling can be appealed. Chen, who was 30 at the time of the crime, is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of the female university student identified by her surname Chai in October 2022. The Shilin District Court found Chen guilty of murder in January, a verdict that was upheld by the Taiwan High Court in June. Chen confessed to suffocating Chai in her rented residence after she refused to return part of NT$99,999 that he had previously transferred into her account, according to a statement released by the Shilin District Court in January. Chai, who was 24 years old at the time of her death, was studying at a Taipei university and working as a part-time model and live streamer on social media, according to police.
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