TAIPEI - The mother of former actress Lin Ching-hsia fell 12 storeys to her death yesterday.
TAIPEI - The mother of former actress Lin Ching-hsia fell 12 storeys
to her death yesterday.
Madam Ma Lan-ying, 71, had suffered from depression for many years and had tried to kill herself many times.
Police said she might have jumped from the window of her bedroom when her husband Lin Wei-liang, 84, and their Filipino maid were not watching.
But one of her friends said her death might have been an accident.
United Evening News said her body was found in a pool of blood at the cafe outside her apartment at about 2.15 am yesterday.
A chair was found in front of the window of her bedroom.
Her husband, who slept in a different bedroom, learnt of her death only after police called at their apartment.
Although police believed she had killed herself, her friend said Madam Ma had made a date to dine with her yesterday. So, she could not have killed herself.
She liked to lean against her window to look out of her apartment and might have fallen by accident, the friend added.
The 48-year-old Lin, who lives in Hongkong with her husband and two daughters, arrived in Taipei at about 10 am and went straight to the funeral home where her mother's body was resting.
Dressed in black and white, she looked solemn and sad.
Known to be a filial daughter, she flew to Taipei to visit her parents as often as twice a month although she had moved to Hongkong.
Her mother had been unable to walk for years and it was thought to be the cause of her depression. In March last year, Lin, who was seven months pregnant then, took her to the United States for surgery.
The actress became famous in the 1970s for roles in such Taiwanese romances as Outside The Window. In 1996, she married Esprit Asia boss Michael Ying and retired from showbusiness.