[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] A police officer who threatened his mistress, who was about to break up with him, to "take your own life," leading her to make an extreme choice, has been brought to trial.
The Violent Crime Division of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Shin Junho) announced on the 7th that they have arrested and indicted A (46), a police sergeant affiliated with a police station in Incheon, on charges of inducing suicide and intimidation.
Sergeant A is accused of threatening his mistress B (46 at the time of death) in the early morning hours of November 2 last year, causing her to take her own life.
During the breakup process, he made a phone call lasting about three hours, using the weaknesses of B and her son as leverage, threatening, "I will mobilize all my police connections to have your son criminally prosecuted, ruining his future, and I will also conduct a tax investigation on your workplace to leave you homeless."
Sergeant A was also investigated to have said to B, "I will spare your son, so you should hang yourself and make an extreme choice."
In fact, B was found dead from an extreme choice at a villa in Seo-gu, Incheon, around 8:30 a.m. on the same day. Sergeant A, after finishing his night shift and returning home around 8 a.m., discovered B's body and reported it to 112.
At that time, the police urgently arrested Sergeant A and applied for an arrest warrant, but the court dismissed it in November last year, stating, "It is difficult to recognize grounds for detention, and the police's urgent arrest was illegal."
After the police transferred Sergeant A without detention, the prosecution conducted witness investigations with the victim's family and acquaintances, carried out supplementary investigations including searches of A's home and office, and consulted criminal psychology experts, subsequently requesting and obtaining an arrest warrant again last month.
Sergeant A reportedly completely denied any causal relationship between his threats and B's extreme choice during the prosecution investigation.
However, the prosecution judged that Sergeant A psychologically pressured B by causing extreme fear regarding the safety and future of B and her son, and that B, cornered, ultimately made the extreme choice.
A prosecution official stated, "The suspect, as an active police officer, threatened the victim, who was raising her son alone after divorce, by flaunting his social status, connections, and job experience through a long phone call, ultimately causing her to make an extreme choice. Considering the severity of the outcome, we directly conducted supplementary investigations and arrested and indicted the suspect."
He added, "We will do our utmost to maintain the prosecution so that the suspect receives punishment corresponding to the crime, and we have requested necessary support such as psychological treatment costs for the victim's family."
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