Taipei - A Taiwan man was charged with murder Tuesday for throwing his 10-month-old daughter into a pot of boiling water.

Prosecutor Chang Hui-chiung filed the charges against Huang Ling-chi, 48, from Changhwa County, western Taiwan, after Huang's daughter died Tuesday following three days' treatment. If convicted, Huang could face a ten-year sentence to the death penalty.

The incident, which shocked the Taiwan public, occurred last Saturday and prompted the Interior Ministry to consider launching a network to monitor "high-risk families."

"High-risk families are families that have marital problems, drug addicts and alcohol addicts and ex-convicts. When neighbours notice problems in these families, they should report to local authorities to prevent children in these families from being abused," Chien Hui-jiuan, director of the ministry's Children's Bureau, said in parliament.

Huang had been living with his wife Lin and two daughters in Changhwa, selling noodles for a living.

According to police, on Saturday morning, Huang went out to deliver noodles and came home drunk. While he was boiling noodles and holding his 10-month-old daughter, Lin grumbled about Huang's neglecting the family, triggering an argument.

Huang, enraged, threatened to throw his daughter into the pot of boiling water if Lin continued nagging.

"The daughter is yours. You can do whatever if you want. Go ahead and do it, if you dare!" Lin was reported to have retorted.

So Huang tossed his daughter into the pot with which the family boiled noodles, which measured about 1 metre wide and half a metre deep. Lin picked up the girl with her hands, but the girl was already scorched and suffered burns to 84 per cent of her body.

Lin rushed her daughter to the Changhwa Christian Hospital, but the girl died Tuesday morning. (dpa)