Son Dies After Being Assaulted by Mother... Suspicious Monks at the Temple Who Just Watched

Mother Beaten for 2 Hours 30 Minutes... Dies After 1 Hour of Neglect
Son Enrolled in Insurance Paying 50 Million Won Upon Arrival at Temple
Father Claims "Suspicious... Planned Murder, Insurance Fraud"
Mother States "No Intent to Kill"

Last August at night, at a temple in Gyeongbuk, a mother beat her son for 2 hours and 30 minutes and left him unattended for 1 hour, causing his death. It was revealed that none of the three witnesses, including the head monk, intervened to stop the assault. Photo by MBC Broadcast Screen Capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] At a temple in Gyeongbuk, a mother beat her son for 2 hours and 30 minutes and left him unattended for 1 hour, causing his death, but it was revealed that none of the three witnesses, including the head monk, intervened to stop this severe abuse.

According to MBC Newsdesk on the 28th, a 119 emergency call was received last August reporting that a man in his 30s had collapsed due to breathing difficulties at a temple in Paljoryeong, Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk.

According to the report, when paramedics arrived at the scene, Mr. A (35) had stopped breathing and his body was extremely cold. Bruises covered his entire body.

Mr. A was immediately taken to the hospital but ultimately died.

The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was not simple respiratory failure. At the time of death, Mr. A’s body was 46% damaged due to excessive bleeding caused by external force.

Mr. A’s mother, Ms. B (64), who made the report, confessed, "My son collapsed while I was beating him."

Mr. A, who had failed the civil service exam four times, was found to have been living and preparing for the exam at the temple for two months.

It was understood that Ms. B took Mr. A to the temple, saying, "Since you failed the exam again, go to the temple and get your act together."

Police checked the closed-circuit television (CCTV) and found that Ms. B beat Mr. A with a bamboo stick for 2 hours and 40 minutes in the middle of the living room where her son was staying.

When he tried to run away, she caught him and beat him again, and when her son collapsed, the mother just watched him for 50 minutes.

The mother explained, "I thought he was pretending." She said she got angry and beat him because her son was about to be kicked out for breaking the temple rules.

The police accepted the mother’s statement that "there was no intent to kill" and referred the case to the prosecution on charges of injury resulting in death, not murder.

However, the father strongly raised suspicions, saying it might not have been an accidental incident.

The father said that the death of his son and the perpetrator, his wife, was suspicious and relayed, "(The head monk told my wife) that there were seven ghosts. He said it would cost 1 million won per ghost to exorcise them, so he demanded 7 million won."

In particular, it was revealed that the head monk and two believers took no significant action despite witnessing such severe abuse.

The bereaved family of the deceased son, Mr. A, questioned the monks’ tolerance of the abuse, saying, "If they did that for such a long time, what on earth were those people doing? You have to go through the monk’s room to get there, so it’s impossible not to know."

Mr. A’s father claimed, "It was a planned murder and an insurance fraud," revealing that "my son took out driver’s insurance on the day he arrived at the temple."

Mr. A was insured under driver’s insurance, which pays 50 million won in case of death by accidental injury, but the beneficiary was found to be a temple official.

Another unusual point was that the temple, where many believers live together, was registered in the real estate registry as a "bathhouse" and "office."

Regarding these suspicions, the head monk countered, "The driver’s insurance was taken out for all believers, and the insurance money was intended to be given to the bereaved family."

The head monk explained to Mr. A’s family, "Are you saying we hired the mother to kill someone? People who come and go to the temple work at the insurance company. That’s why we put them on the insurance."

Ms. B, who is currently out on bail after her arrest warrant was dismissed, is still going back and forth to the temple and receiving legal assistance.

Ms. B stated, "I have no relation to the temple. I regret my actions."