Bereaved Family Releases Call Records of Teacher A
"Persistent Complaints Accusing of Child Abuse"
The bereaved family of Mr. A, a teacher in his 40s who was found dead in the storage room of a middle school in Jeju in the early morning of the 22nd, claimed that he suffered from extreme stress due to persistent complaints from a student's family during his lifetime.
On the 23rd, Yonhap News, citing statements from Mr. A's family, reported that Mr. A had received protests from the family of a student he had been supervising for repeated misconduct from March until recently.
According to the media, Mr. A's wife said, "When the student said, 'I don't want to go to school because of Teacher A,' the student's family did not believe what my husband, a teacher, said and continued to file complaints via his personal mobile phone, accusing him of 'child abuse.'"
Yonhap News also disclosed Mr. A's mobile phone call records provided by his family. The actual call records showed that calls from the student's family were received regardless of whether it was a weekday or weekend.
Another family member stated, "Mr. A continued to inform the student's family about school attendance, even while receiving protest complaints, because he was concerned the student might not be able to graduate. He also told the student to obtain and submit a medical certificate and other documents."
Unable to cope with the stress, Mr. A told the school on the 19th that he was suffering from headaches and intended to take sick leave, but he passed away before he could take the leave.
Mr. A's wife said, "Although my husband did nothing wrong, he even apologized to the student's family, but they kept nitpicking and harassing him, telling him not to apologize and that he should accept punishment on his own. I believe my husband felt a deep sense of unfairness." She also said that Mr. A did not inform the school about these issues because he did not want to cause trouble for the school.
Meanwhile, Mr. A was found dead at around 12:46 a.m. the previous day in the storage room of a middle school in Jeju. When she lost contact with her husband, Mr. A's wife reported it to the police, who discovered Mr. A's body in the storage room behind the main school building while searching the area around the school.
Previously, the Jeju branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) issued a statement expressing condolences for the teacher's tragic death and called for a careful and thorough investigation into the matter.
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