‘Cheaek Terror’ That Almost Ended as Property Damage
Stalking Charges Revealed After Prosecutors' Reinvestigation
A man in his 20s who sprayed bodily fluids on the front door of a woman living alone in Cheongju, Chungbuk, and fled has been arrested and indicted. The case was initially about to be closed as simple property damage, but after the prosecution’s reinvestigation, additional evidence of stalking women was uncovered.
On the 3rd, Yonhap News reported that the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office indicted a man in his 20s, identified as A, on charges of property damage and violation of the Stalking Punishment Act. A is accused of spraying bodily fluids he had prepared in advance on the doorknobs of three women’s homes in an apartment in Cheongju from November last year until March this year, then fleeing.
Initially, the police applied only the property damage charge and sent the case to the prosecution. The “bodily fluid terror” incident has the character of a sex crime in that it causes sexual discomfort to the victims. However, under current law, bodily fluid attacks on objects rather than people are charged as property damage, because there is no “direct physical contact.”
However, after taking over the case, the prosecution conducted a reinvestigation and found that A had stalked the female victims. They discovered evidence in A’s phone notes, photos, and video files that identified the victims’ main routes and residences. It is reported that from November last year for about four months, A searched for women living alone in the same apartment, secretly observed their residences, and planned the crimes by understanding their daily routines.
A representative from the Cheongju District Prosecutors’ Office stated, “We will continue to respond strictly to stalking crimes that increase victims’ anxiety.”
In September last year, there was also an incident in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, where a male student put bodily fluids into a female teacher’s tumbler. In February, a man smeared bodily fluids on the head of a female high school student at a study cafe in Seosan, Chungnam. Although crimes involving bodily fluids continue to occur, most have not been punished as sex crimes. This is because current law lacks appropriate provisions to punish cases without physical contact as sex crimes.
Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, last month introduced a bill to amend the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes to include “bodily fluid terror” against objects as a punishable sex crime. The same bill was introduced in the 21st National Assembly but did not pass.
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