Female college student bites off 3cm of sexual assaulter's tongue... Prosecutors recognize self-defense, decide not to prosecute

"Request to Punish Sexual Assault Perpetrator for Injuring a Woman"
Man with Tongue Severed Indicted and Detained on Charges of Rape and Injury

On the 9th, the Busan District Prosecutors' Office East Branch concluded its investigation into the 'Hwangnyeongsan Tongue Severing' case that occurred in July last year and decided not to prosecute the victim who bit the man's tongue in self-defense.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] The prosecution has recognized self-defense and decided not to prosecute a woman who bit off a man's tongue while resisting sexual assault.

On the 9th, the Eastern Branch of the Busan District Prosecutors' Office concluded its investigation into the 'Hwangryeongsan Tongue Severing' incident that occurred in July last year and decided not to prosecute victim A, who bit the man's tongue in resistance, on grounds of self-defense.

According to the prosecution, at around 9:25 a.m. on July 19 last year, inside a parked car on a mountain path in Hwangryeongsan, Nam-gu, Busan, A bit the tongue of man B, severing about 3 cm of the tip.

A claimed she was responding to B's forced molestation and asserted self-defense, while B demanded punishment for grievous bodily harm against the woman.

After investigating the vehicle's black box and closed-circuit television (CCTV), the police confirmed B's forced molestation and held a self-defense review committee for A. The committee determined that although the tongue severing exceeded justifiable self-defense and constituted 'excessive defense,' it was an exempted act under Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Act.

Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Act states, "Even if the defensive act exceeds the necessary extent, it shall not be punished if the act occurred at night or under psychological states such as fear, shock, or excitement."

The prosecution also viewed A's biting of the tongue as self-defense to escape the current unjust infringement on her body and sexual self-determination rights.

The prosecution has indicted B on charges of rape causing injury and confinement, and he has been detained.