The suspect in a 4-year-old girl's decapitation, Wang Ching-yu (wearing a helmet), is escorted to a detention center in Taipei, Taiwan, on Tuesday.[HUANG SHIQI/CHINA DAILY]

In May 2015, an 8-year-old girl was slashed to death in her school by a 29-year-old man who reportedly had a mental illness.

Tsai Ing-wen, a Democratic Progressive Party politician who will become the island's top leader in May, said in an interview in June 2015 that she believes the death penalty has to be considered along with other measures, and protecting public security is most important.

The Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, an NGO on the island, said now is not the moment to discuss abolishing the death penalty.

"Concern for the victim and victim's family is the most important," the organization said.

Ruan Chuansheng, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai, said that removal of the death penalty should be given second thought.

"It's a serious case and the way the suspect killed the girl was cruel. But it is an individual case," Ruan said. "I know some legal professionals discussed canceling the death penalty and the view has reached an agreement across the world. There are some countries that do not have such extreme punishment. But whether to remove the death penalty and when to remove it should be in line with regional reality."

On Tuesday, another knife attack happened at Taipei's metro station. A policeman was stabbed three times by a 28-year-old man and sent to hospital, China News Service reported.

Contact the writers at pengyining@chinadaily.com.cn