A biological mother and stepfather, accused of abusing and causing the death of a 16-month-old child in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, have been handed over to prosecutors while in custody.
The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Department reported on the 3rd that they have detained and handed over Ms. A, a woman in her 20s, the biological mother, and Mr. B, a man in his 30s, the stepfather, to the prosecutor’s office for alleged child abuse leading to death.
Ms. A and Mr. B are charged with maltreating and resulting in the death of 16-month-old infant C at a residence in Seondan-dong, Pocheon, approximately 6:42 p.m. on the 23rd of last month.
At that moment, Ms. A informed 119 that her daughter had stopped breathing while eating, and although Infant C was rushed to the hospital, she was declared dead approximately at 1 a.m. the next day.
The medical team alerted the authorities following their discovery of several bruises on Infant C’s body, which raised their concerns.
The police, who initiated an investigation, asked the National Forensic Service to perform an autopsy. According to the preliminary verbal assessment that the death was believed to result from traumatic shock, they detained the couple on allegations of mistreatment.
As per the police report, Ms. A delivered Infant C in June of the previous year and started cohabiting with Mr. B in November following their meeting during the summer. Ms. A is now confirmed to be eight months pregnant.
The mistreatment of Infant C was discovered to have taken place in September. Mr. B hit the infant’s head under the excuse of punishment. Later, Ms. A was found to have hit the infant’s feet and buttocks with a back scratcher and other items, and sent a KakaoTalk message to Mr. B saying, “I will correct her behavior.”
Taking these factors into account, the police suspect that Infant C died due to a collaborative offense carried out by both individuals.
At present, Ms. A and Mr. B are said to have rejected the abuse allegations against them. Nevertheless, both have claimed to have seen the other strike the child.
It was verified that the daycare facility Infant C attended had also noticed indications of abuse. Infant C started going to the daycare in June of this year but ceased attendance in early September of the same year, resuming from October onward. At that point, bruises were discovered across Infant C’s body.
Even though the daycare staff took pictures, they didn’t inform the authorities, stating there wasn’t enough accurate details. The police applied administrative actions against the daycare via the local government for failing to meet the required reporting obligation regarding child abuse.
So far, the police have questioned Ms. A and Mr. B on several occasions, and on the 29th, they obtained evidence such as the back scratcher involved in the crime, computers, and surveillance video through a search and seizure at their home. The back scratcher and the surveillance footage have been forwarded to the National Forensic Service for examination.
A police source said, “Ms. A and Mr. B are providing accounts that they saw the abuse, even though they both deny the allegations against each other,” and added, “We will carry out the investigation with the utmost care and precision.”
