Angry crowds mob Taiwanese suspect who beheaded toddler

"Kill him, kill him."

An enraged crowd called for justice and the death penalty after Taiwanese suspect Wang Jingyu was arrested for beheading a four-year-old girl in Taipei on Monday morning.

The blood-drenched 33-year-old was seen on Taiwanese media footage pleading for mercy repeatedly before an angry mob that formed around him as he was being led out of a police station in handcuffs yesterday afternoon.

Emotionally charged and furious over the grisly crime, the crowd could be heard shouting expletives and some even attempted to hit him. He faced an angry crowd again at 7.30pm when he was escorted out of the station to be transferred to a police prosecution building, reported Apply Daily.

Wang had chopped off the girl's head with 12 cuts using a hefty cleaver right before her mother in Neihu, eastern Taipei.

According to reports, eye-witnesses had tackled the suspect to the ground before police arrived, but it was too late to save the little girl, who is affectionately nicknamed "Little Lightbulb" by her family.

See also: Taiwan girl, 4, beheaded in front of mum by 'mentally unsound' man

At Wang's home, police officers found scribbling on his notepad which read "Killing Sichuan girls can extend bloodline". According to his father, Wang, had a drug conviction, was also mentally unsound.

"Shocked and saddened" by the incident, President Ma Ying-jeou asked his Cabinet to launch a full investigation "to ensure justice be served", China Post reported.

A Kuomintang (KMT) legislator called for the law to punish those who murder children 12 years old or younger with either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The attack took place in Taipei's Neihu District's Huashan Road Section 1 where the toddler and her mother were taking a stroll.

According to the police, Wang bought the cleaver at a wholesale market earlier in the morning. before taking a train to Xihu station. Wang was loitering near Neihu Road Section 1 at about 10am when he spotted the toddler and her mother.

He then followed them, with the knife in his hand.

Wang approached the girl when her toy bicycle appeared to have broken down. He then attacked her in front of her mother who screamed for help, according to a China Post report.

She tried to stop him by grabbing at him, but could not pull him away as he continued to hack the child.

Three car mechanics, who heard the mother's screams, rushed to the scene and managed to subdue Wang. But it was already too late - the toddler was already decapitated.

When in police custody, Wang kept repeating: "I'm out to find a girl from Sichuan" (a Chinese province).

See also: Suspect who beheaded toddler speaking incomprehensibly

In a TV interview, the little girl's mother, Mrs Liu, said she does not think that any kind of law will be able to solve the problem of keeping "dangerous people away from the street".

Instead, she said: "I hope our children and grandchildren will never see this happen ever again."

This morning, the victim's family including her parents and grandparents, turned up at the scene to offer prayers and called for her soul to "return home", reported Apple Daily

Read more: Taiwan ministry believes murder suspect was on drugs

chenj@sph.com.sg