Common-law Couple Who Killed and Abandoned 5-Day-Old Son Sent to Prosecution

A common-law couple who killed their newborn baby and abandoned the body has been handed over to the prosecution.

According to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency on the 7th, the suspects in the so-called "Geoje Infant Murder and Abandonment Case," the father in his 20s, Mr. A, and the mother in her 30s, Ms. B, were sent to the prosecution in custody.

They were urgently arrested around 10:30 p.m. on June 30 for abandoning the body of an unregistered newborn infant at a residence in Geoje on September 9 of last year.

The two, who were in a common-law relationship, gave birth to a boy named Mr. C at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Geoje City on September 5 of the same year.

Four days after discharge and returning home, Mr. A strangled the child to death, and Ms. B was found to have witnessed the act.

They testified that they committed the crime due to financial difficulties and fear that their families would separate them if they found out about the birth.

Police are searching around Sinhyeon 1st Bridge in Gohyeon-dong, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam, to find the body of an abandoned infant.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Police Agency]

At the time of arrest, they claimed, "We came home, slept, and woke up to find the child dead," and said they buried the body in a nearby mountain, but later confessed to the crime during further investigation.

They also admitted that they put the body in a plastic bag and dumped it in a nearby stream early the next morning after the murder.

Mr. A reportedly confessed that he initially tried to bury the body in the mountain but changed the location because people were passing by.

The police searched the mountain for two days to find the deceased Mr. C’s body and have been searching around the stream since the confession, but the search has been difficult due to several months having passed since the crime and continuous rain forecasts.

However, since both accomplices confessed and their statements are detailed and consistent, the police believe there will be no difficulty in proving the murder charge.

As of 2 p.m. on the 6th, the provincial police agency announced that there have been 59 cases of cooperation requests and investigation referrals related to unregistered births in 18 cities and counties within the province, with four confirmed child death cases.

Investigations are ongoing to determine whether there is any criminal suspicion in the unregistered birth child death cases that occurred in Jinju and Sacheon, and if criminal suspicion is found, the cases will be formally investigated.

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