Woman gets prison term for starving infant to death while meeting ‘new lover’

The Daegu District Court on Friday sentenced a 26-year-old woman to 12 years in prison for killing her infant child by neglect and getting rid of the body.

According to court records, the woman left her husband due to a conflict in August 2016. She later met a man through an online game, and the two reportedly moved into a studio in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Her child was born shortly after, in July 2017.

The baby’s father was arrested while the woman was pregnant, and he was still in jail after the child was born. The woman reportedly left her daughter alone at home on four occasions between October and November 2017 to meet another man in Busan whom she had met via an online gaming site. 

Authorities said they were shocked when the woman confessed to having left her child alone without any food or water from Nov. 10-13, while staying with the man in Busan. The child was reportedly dead when the woman returned late at night on Nov. 13, 2017.

After returning to Pohang, she reportedly kept the baby’s body at home, and dumped the body in front of a motel in Pohang in April this year.

Police said they caught the woman as she was trying to flee the scene.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)