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| A Gumi woman, surnamed Seok, arrives at the Gimcheon branch of the Daegu District Court in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province, Aug. 17, to attend her hearing in a child death case. Yonhap |
A forty-something woman, who recently made headlines in South Korea for allegedly switching her newborn infant with her daughter’s baby years ago, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Tuesday for attempting to abandon the body of her 3-year-old daughter this year and abducting her granddaughter of the same age in 2018.
The Gimcheon branch of the Daegu District Court gave the prison term to the 48-year-old woman, surnamed Seok, after convicting her on multiple charges, including baby switching and abduction.
The case dates back to Feb. 10, when the mummified body of Seok’s young daughter, who died apparently of starvation six months earlier, was discovered at the multi-unit house of her 22-year-old daughter, surnamed Kim, in Gumi, a quiet industrial city about 260 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
At that time, the dead girl was believed to be a daughter born to Kim. However, it was discovered through DNA tests in March that Seok is the biological mother of the dead girl. Prosecutors suspect that Kim and Seok each gave birth to baby girls around the same time, and the elder woman may have switched the babies so her baby would be raised by her adult daughter.
Seok has steadfastly denied giving birth to a baby girl, let alone other suspected offenses. In the previous hearing on July 13, prosecutors demanded an imprisonment of 13 years for Seok, saying the offense committed by her is extremely inhumane and the nature of her crime is bad.
The local court said it has found Seok guilty on all charges after confirming that the defendant is the biological mother of the deceased girl.
“The defendant’s acts are serious crimes that infringe on the protective and fostering rights of the parents,” the court said.
“She broke into a maternity hospital to switch her child with her daughter’s baby. And it seems that she actively tried to hide the body of her child to cover up her crimes.”
Separately, Kim was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June after being convicted on charges of abandoning the 3-year-old girl in an empty house and causing her death. (Yonhap)
Woman gets 8-year prison term over death of switched daughter
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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