Female College Student Who Severed Man's Tongue Attempting Forced Kiss... Police Say "No Punishment"

Police Recommend Non-Prosecution for Women in Cases of 'Excessive Self-Defense' or 'Excuse for Liability'
Man in His 30s Referred to Prosecution on Charges of Rape and Injury

Busan Nambu Police Station.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The police decided not to charge a female university student who bit off and severed the tongue of a man in his 30s who tried to forcibly kiss her to avoid sexual violence.

The police judged that the woman's act of severing the tongue was not subject to criminal punishment.

On the 2nd, the Busan Nambu Police Station sent the female university student, who was accused of causing serious injury by severing the man's tongue, to the prosecution with a non-prosecution opinion, and forwarded the man to the prosecution with a charge of attempted rape causing injury.

The man is accused of taking the intoxicated female university student, who was sitting by the roadside in the Seomyeon entertainment district of Busan last July, into his car and driving her to a secluded mountain road on Hwangnyeongsan, then forcibly kissing her inside the car.

The man claimed that the act was consensual, but the woman argued that it was not true that she consented to a stranger who was heavily intoxicated, and that if it had been consensual, she would not have bitten his tongue.

The police analyzed the movement route using the secured black box and CCTV footage and held a self-defense review committee, carefully considering whether the female university student's act of severing the tongue was self-defense or excessive defense under the law.

The police explained, "Regarding whether the act of severing the tongue constitutes self-defense, after consulting external experts such as lawyers, we concluded that although it corresponds to excessive defense, applying Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Act, it is a reason for exemption from liability and thus not punishable."

Article 21, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Act recognizes that even if a defensive act exceeds the necessary degree, if it occurs at night or under a psychologically unstable state, it is considered a reason for exemption from liability and is not punishable.

There were also opposing opinions regarding the police's application of excessive defense under Article 21, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act, rather than self-defense, in relation to the woman's serious injury from severing the tongue.

A representative of a women's organization in Busan said, "The woman's resistance should be seen as the best action to prevent further sexual violence in the confined space of the vehicle, and it is difficult to agree with the judgment of excessive defense."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.