TAIPEI (AFP) - A Taiwanese man faces the death penalty after he was indicted Thursday, accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and sexually assaulting her corpse in a "brutal and inhumane" public attack, prosecutors said.

Chang Yen-wen, 29, who was charged with murder, is alleged to have knifed the woman at least 47 times in a frenzied attack in a street in Taipei on September 22 after she spurned his attempts to rekindle their romance, the district prosecutor's office confirmed.

Chang, who worked for a global accounting firm and is a graduate of the island's top university, was also indicted on the charge of "desecrating a corpse" after allegedly sexually assaulting the 22-year-old kindergarten teacher after she collapsed and died on the scene. Horrified passers-by alerted the police to the attack.

Prosecutors said they sought capital punishment for Chang as they allege the crime was premeditated because he bought a knife a week before the "brutal and inhumane" attack.

Violent crimes are relatively rare in Taiwan but in recent months there have been a number of attacks that have left the public shocked.

Last week, 60 people were indicted on murder and assault charges for allegedly beating a policeman to death outside a nightclub.

In July, prosecutors indicted and sought the death penalty for a 21-year-old college student accused of killing four people and wounding nearly two dozen others in a stabbing spree in the subway that shocked the island.