Seung Jae-hyun, Research Fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice
"Baby swapping raises questions from a criminal psychology perspective"
"No interest in own daughter for 6 months"
"Need to confirm the whereabouts and life status of the swapped baby"
On the morning of the 11th, A (48), who was known as the maternal grandmother but was revealed to be the biological mother of a 3-year-old girl who died in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, entered the Daegu District Court Gimcheon Branch to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review). / Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] It has come as a shock that the biological mother of a 3-year-old girl found dead in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, has been revealed to be A (48), who was previously known as the maternal grandmother. Initially, B, a woman in her 20s who was thought to be the deceased girl's biological mother, turned out to be the girl's older sister, and another child born to B has gone missing. As the case unfolds in an unexpected direction, suspicions are also rising that A may have deliberately 'switched' the children.
Meanwhile, an expert suggested that the person who assisted A during the childbirth of the girl likely holds the key to the case and urged the police to conduct a swift investigation.
Seung Jae-hyun, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy, said in an interview with YTN Radio's "Hwang Bo-seon's Start of a New Morning" on the morning of the 12th, "The hospital where the maternal grandmother gave birth has not been revealed at all," emphasizing, "So we need to find out who helped when the child was born."
Seung also raised suspicions that A might have switched her biological daughter with B's child due to certain circumstances she could not disclose to those around her.
He pointed out, "In typical criminal psychology, rather than switching a daughter's child, one tends to make the child they gave birth to take an extreme action. That is the usual pattern in infant homicide crimes," adding, "It is questionable that she went through the trouble of switching children to create a story for the case and then showed no interest for six months."
He also called for a thorough investigation into the whereabouts of B's missing child. Seung said, "The fact that the child is missing means the birth has been confirmed," and emphasized, "I hope the police confirm the child's life or death through investigation, and that B's biological daughter returns safely to the public."
A, identified as the biological mother of the 3-year-old girl who died in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, is entering the courthouse to undergo a detention warrant hearing. / Photo by Yonhap News
Earlier, on the 11th, before the pretrial detention hearing at the Gimcheon branch of the Daegu District Court, A told reporters, "I have never given birth to a daughter," completely denying the charges against her.
On that day, A reiterated, "(The deceased girl) is indeed the daughter of my daughter," and "I have never given birth to a daughter." When asked by a reporter if she thought the DNA test was wrong, she answered, "Yes."
Meanwhile, on February 10th around 3 p.m., a 3-year-old girl was found dead in a villa in Gumi, Gyeongbuk. At the time of discovery, the girl was in a state of partial mummification, and severe decomposition of organs and body made it difficult to determine the exact cause of death.
The first person to discover and report the case was A, and the police who responded to the report initially identified B as the deceased girl's biological mother, charging and detaining her on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.
However, DNA test results showed that B and the girl could not be considered mother and daughter, and subsequent expanded DNA testing of people around B revealed that A's DNA matched that of the 3-year-old girl.
In particular, it has been reported that even B believed until now that the girl was her biological daughter, leading the case into an unexpected phase. There is also a possibility that A, who initially claimed to be the maternal grandmother of the 3-year-old girl, switched her own daughter with B's biological daughter, who gave birth around the same time.
Additionally, concerns are growing as the whereabouts of B's biological daughter remain unclear.
Meanwhile, the police plan to investigate whether A conspired with B to switch the children and to locate the child born to B.
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