Korean Man Sentenced To Prison For Starving Wife To Death
A man in his 50s was sentenced to prison for causing the death of his wife, who suffered from hearing and intellectual disabilities, due to his severe neglect.
On November 8, KST, the Daegu District Court Criminal Division 12 indicted Mr. A, a 59-year-old man, on charges of confinement and abandonment resulting in death. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
According to investigative authorities, Mr. A locked up his wife, Mrs. B, a 54-year-old woman with disabilities, in a small room in their house from November 2022 to January 2023. He severely neglected her basic human needs, not providing her with proper meals. Eventually, she starved to death.
Mr. A was reportedly dissatisfied with the fact that his wife had difficulty communicating and locked her up in a small room. He blocked the door with a wardrobe to prevent her from leaving the room and even nailed the window frame to prevent it from opening. In addition, he also put a lock on the small door leading to the outside, located right next to the room where Mrs. B was locked up. This was to prevent her from running into neighbors outside the house, even if she managed to get out of the room.
In early January last year, Mrs. B suddenly collapsed while walking down the passageway to her yard. Though she called out her husband, he simply moved her back to the small room and left her there without providing any medical attention. The room didn’t have any heating either. Mrs. B passed away the next day from complications due to severe starvation. At the time of her death, she weighed only 20.5 kg.
After her death, Mr. A was investigated and sent to the prosecution, who sent him to trial. In March, he was tried by a jury where the prosecutors sought a six-year prison sentence. But the seven jurors couldn’t agree on a single verdict. While they unanimously found him guilty on the charge of confinement, they had differing views about the charges of abandonment and abandonment resulting in death.
The court eventually sentenced him to two years, taking into consideration that Mr. A himself suffered from borderline intellectual disabilities but did not show any remorse.
The ruling has been intensely criticized by netizens since they felt that a two-year prison sentence was far too little for his crime.
엄벌 2년… ㅅㅂ https://t.co/g3kjlNPkfk pic.twitter.com/r0SYxyjhyG
— 뿡빵삥뽕🧊 (@rladlqkrchoi) November 8, 2024
“Punishment of two years…F*ck.”
— @rladlqkrchoi/X
— 참치 (@moonformee) November 8, 2024
“2 years?”
—@moonformee/X
2년같은 소리하네 사형뒀다 뭐하냐고요?? 저런 놈이랑 같은 사회를 살아가라고요??? https://t.co/Q9xaXsfc7n
— 잉이 (@KX4f3JCcH1nAhO2) November 8, 2024
“They’re talking about two years when he should be put on the death row. Are you asking us to live in the same society as someone like that?”
—@KX4f3JCcH1nAhO2/X
