A mother in her 30s was arrested on charges of killing her baby born with a disability in connection with the suspicious death of a one-week-old infant who was staying at a postpartum care center.
On the 25th, Yonhap News reported that the Cheongju District Court conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing for the mother A (in her 30s), who is accused of murder, and issued an arrest warrant due to concerns about flight risk and other reasons.
Earlier, on the 10th of last month, a report was received that a one-week-old infant had died at a postpartum care center in Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju. The reporter was the infant’s biological father, Mr. B. According to the autopsy by the National Forensic Service, the infant had a congenital disability in one arm and was found to have died from suffocation.
It was confirmed that the deceased infant stayed in the mother-child room within the postpartum care center with the parents until shortly before death. During the police investigation, the couple stated, "We woke up and found the baby, who had been properly laid on the bed, lying face down and not breathing."
However, the police, suspicious that a newborn cannot change position on their own such as rolling over, seized the parents’ mobile phones for investigation. As a result, evidence was found on the phones indicating that the couple had planned to kill the baby.
The police initially charged the couple with involuntary manslaughter but later changed the charges to murder. The police are continuing the investigation, believing that the couple intentionally killed the physically disabled child. Although the police applied for an arrest warrant for A’s husband, Mr. B, the prosecution rejected it, stating that "there is a family to support, so there is insufficient need for detention."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
