Demonstrators calling for heavy punishment against a woman on trial for murdering her four-month-old son block an inmate bus carrying the woman near Gwangju District Court in Suncheon on Thursday. Photo by Yonhap
A woman who brutally beat her four-month-old son and left him to die in a bathtub was sentenced Thursday to life imprisonment in a child abuse case that stunned the nation.
The Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Court ruled that the mother, in her 30s, had “cruelly” abused her child for half of his short life before ending it.
The woman was indicted for indiscriminately beating her son and leaving him in a running bathtub at their home in Yeosu, about 310 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 22. The infant died of multiple fractures and internal bleeding.
The court also sentenced the child’s father to four years and six months in prison on charges of neglecting the abuse and threatening a witness in the case.
“Despite the defendants having the infinite responsibility of raising their child safely as parents, the child died 133 days after being born due to the abuse from his own parents, who should have been the world to him,” the court said.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for the mother and a 10-year term for her husband.
Investigators earlier determined that the woman had abused her child on 19 separate occasions since Aug. 24, and found multiple bruises and signs of internal bleeding on the infant’s body.
The case drew nationwide attention after footage of the abuse was aired by local broadcaster SBS’ investigative series “Unanswered Questions.”
A group of protestors staged a rally outside the court earlier in the day calling for heavy punishment.
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