South Korean police find infant’s body in kimchi container, Latest World News - The New Paper
World

South Korean police find infant’s body in kimchi container

This article is more than 12 months old

SEOUL - Police are investigating the parents of a dead infant found in a plastic container, alleging that they had hidden the death of their 15-month-old daughter for three years since she died.

They believe that the mother, 34, left the infant to die at the couple’s home while the father, 29, was in prison. After the infant died, she kept the body at home.

Following his release from jail, the father moved the body to his parents’ home in Pocheon city in Gyeonggi Province. He then put the body in a plastic container used to store kimchi and hid it on the rooftop.

The infant’s death went unnoticed until city officials reported her as missing after finding out that she was not enrolled in preschool or getting health checks. But by that time, she had already been dead for about three years.

City officials filed a police report on Oct 27 after their attempts to get in touch with the mother repeatedly fell through.

Three days later, the police arrested the mother on suspicions of violating child welfare laws.

In initial interviews with the police, the mother denied that her daughter had died, claiming instead that she had abandoned her in the streets.

But over the course of the ensuing investigations, she admitted that she and her husband had been hiding their daughter’s body.

On Nov 16, two days after they found the body, the police arrested the father.

Police are still trying to establish the exact circumstances and motives for the alleged crime. An autopsy is currently underway. - THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

South KoreacrimeCHILDREN AND YOUTH