Through their lawyers, the parents of the woman identified by only her surname, Chai, rubbished reports from several media outlets and speculation on social media that their daughter had committed suicide.

“We have the death certificate issued by the Taiwanese authorities and they classified it as homicide, or more specifically, manual strangulation,” according to lawyers Kitson Foong and Chew Jee San.

Foong said the family denied a Taipei Times report that said Chai’s autopsy showed that drugs were found in her system at the time of her death.

“The toxicology report is not even out (yet), so where is the Taiwanese press getting this information from,” they said at a press conference before Chai’s wake.

Commenting on a report that a suspect had been detained by Taiwanese authorities, Foong said Chai’s parents have never met the man who was identified as Chen.

Foong said the parents were also unable to confirm whether the man was their daughter’s boyfriend.

“Their daughter never introduced him to the family, so they did not know of his existence nor the basis of the relationship,” he added.

Last week, Taipei police were reported to have said that Chen confessed to strangling Chai after a quarrel over money. According to the police, the couple had been dating for less than a week.

Chen was arrested and held for questioning after he was discharged from a hospital on Oct 17 after a failed suicide attempt.

The family’s other lawyer, Goh Siu Lin, requested local and international media to be more sensitive and respectful in their reporting.

“We cannot police the media here and overseas, but we just want to say – please don’t forget that Chai was the victim of a horrible crime,” she said.

“We don’t want to re-traumatise the family, so please verify or check the facts with us.”

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