Smartwatch and No-Contact Orders Failed... Tragic Dating Murder by Man Wearing Electronic Anklet

Electronic Anklet and Protective Smartwatch Rendered Ineffective

In Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, a woman in her twenties was murdered by a man with whom she was in a common-law relationship. In the wake of this incident, concerns have been raised that both the smartwatch provided to the victim as a protection measure and the electronic anklet worn by the perpetrator ended up being ineffective.

Electronic ankle bracelet. Photo is not directly related to the content of the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to police and other sources on March 14, at approximately 8:58 a.m. that day, a man in his forties, identified as Mr. A, stabbed and killed a woman in her twenties, identified as Ms. B, with a weapon on a street in Onam-eup, Namyangju. After committing the crime, Mr. A fled the scene but was apprehended at about 10:10 a.m. in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province.

Mr. A had a prior record of sexual offenses and was therefore required to wear an electronic anklet. He was also subject to provisional measures No. 2 and No. 3 under the Act on the Punishment of Domestic Violence, as well as provisional measures No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 under the Stalking Punishment Act. As a result, Mr. A was prohibited from contacting Ms. B, the victim, through electronic communications such as phone calls, text messages, or social networking services (SNS), and was not allowed to come within 100 meters of her residence or workplace.

Ms. B had previously reported Mr. A multiple times for violence. After receiving provisional protection measures, she was issued an emergency contact smartwatch; however, this ultimately failed to prevent the tragic incident. This type of smartwatch is distributed to victims of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and retaliatory crimes. In an emergency, pressing a button on the device can alert authorities via 112 with location information. It is currently being investigated whether Ms. B was able to activate the smartwatch at the time of the incident.

Immediately after committing the crime, Mr. A damaged his electronic anklet and fled. Although the electronic anklet is designed to allow real-time location tracking, it reportedly failed to serve as an early warning system to alert authorities when Mr. A approached Ms. B in this case. Authorities are also investigating the circumstances surrounding the damage to the anklet and related events.

Image of personal protection equipment 'Smartwatch'. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

This is not the first time that protection measures for victims of stalking and similar crimes have been criticized as ineffective. In July of last year, a woman in her fifties was murdered in Uijeongbu after enduring stalking. She, too, was provided with a smartwatch, but it did not prevent the attack.

In April of the same year, in Daegu, a woman who had reported stalking was murdered when the perpetrator broke into her residence. Similar cases of stalking, attempted murder, and murders involving acquaintances occurred in cities such as Ulsan and Daejeon.

These victims were all under government protection measures. However, as incidents continue in which these measures fail to stop offenders with murderous intent from approaching their victims, calls questioning the effectiveness of such protections are growing louder.

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