Starving to death and suffocating... Ruthless Mothers

Mother Sentenced to 10 Years for Causing Child's Death, Resembling Estranged Husband
Mother Given Suspended Sentence for Suffocating 4-Month-Old Son
Mother Who Stored Son's Body in Refrigerator Referred to Prosecution

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Mothers who kill their own children or abandon them, leading to their deaths, and then dispose of the bodies?these heartless mothers have ultimately been brought to justice or caught by the police.

According to the court on the 13th, the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Son Joo-chul) sentenced Ms. A to 10 years in prison for causing the death of her 22-month-old son by failing to provide proper food and for abandoning the body. In addition, she was ordered to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program and was banned from working in child-related institutions for 10 years.

Ms. A, after experiencing marital discord with her husband, had been solely caring for B (4 years old) and C (2 years old at the time) since around November 2018. It was investigated that she abused C for about four months, including withholding food because C said, "I hate you like my dad."

C showed abnormal symptoms such as difficulty breathing on October 7 of last year and eventually died. At that time, Ms. A did not take C to the hospital for treatment. Furthermore, she sealed the body in a delivery box and kept it at her residence for five days. When B said, "There is a strange smell," Ms. A disposed of the body in the Han River near Jamsil Bridge in the early morning of the 12th of the same month.

The court stated, "The victim child was about 22 months old at the time of death and was neglected by the mother who had the duty to protect and raise him, ending his life in unimaginable hunger and pain." It added, "The crime cannot be justified by reasons such as anger toward the husband, and severe punishment is inevitable."

On the 13th of last month, Ms. D (41), who was charged with murder for suffocating her 4-month-old son to death, was sentenced to 3 years in prison with a 5-year probation.

Ms. D, who became pregnant through in vitro fertilization and gave birth to her son in December last year, had suffered from depression for a long time and reportedly showed symptoms of insomnia and depression after returning home post-delivery.

Ms. D imagined that her son, who was crying and exhausted, would live with a lifelong disability due to brain damage and thought she could no longer raise him. She searched for methods of killing on portal sites and repeatedly attempted to kill her son, including an extreme suicide attempt with him in February, before committing the crime in April.

However, the court judged that Ms. D was in a mentally weak state due to postpartum depression. The court explained the sentencing by saying, "While the act of taking the life of a young child under her care is highly condemnable, consideration was given to her weakened mental state caused by postpartum stress."

A mother in her 40s who stored the body of her deceased infant in a refrigerator was also sent to the prosecution in custody. On the 4th of this month, Yeosu Police in Jeollanam-do announced that Ms. E (43), suspected of child abuse resulting in death, was sent to the prosecution.

Ms. E is accused of hiding the body of her male twin, who died at 2 months old in October 2018, in a refrigerator for over two years. Police discovered the newborn's body inside the refrigerator while searching Ms. E’s home on the 27th of last month after receiving a report. Currently, Ms. E’s eldest son (7) and the deceased boy’s twin sister (2) are living separated in a child victim shelter.

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