"No Child Is Better Off Dead"... Young Parents in Their 20s Sentenced for Killing Newborn

A couple in their 20s who killed their newborn baby and concealed the body on the balcony were sentenced to prison again in the appellate court.

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According to the legal community on the 25th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeals Division 5-2 (Presiding Judges Choi Tae-young, Jung Deok-soo, and Koo Kwang-hyun) sentenced the biological mother Lee Mo (22) and biological father Kwon Mo (21), who were indicted for infant murder and concealment of a corpse, to three years and two years in prison respectively, the same as in the first trial.

They were prosecuted on charges of suffocating the baby by covering its nose and mouth with a towel immediately after giving birth at their home in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, on January 11, 2021, causing the baby's death. The two are also accused of placing the baby's body in a bag and leaving it under the outdoor air conditioner unit on the balcony for two days.

It was investigated that they knew about the pregnancy around June to July 2020 and tried to have an abortion but could not afford the 5 million won cost.

The first trial stated, "The life or death of a child cannot be determined by the biological parents' willingness or ability to raise the child, and there is no child in this world who deserves to be killed or for whom dying would be better," and criticized, "The baby, who tried with all its might to announce through crying that it was born alive, died at the hands of the parents who were its only and absolute protectors."

Although the couple appealed, claiming the sentence was too harsh, the appellate court upheld the first trial's decision and dismissed the appeal.

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