Court Grants Appeal, Husband And Wife's Sentence Reduced In Case Of The Death Of The Nephew

Illustration of a judge's hammer. (Wikimedia Commons/howtostartablogonline.net)

JAKARTA - An appeals court sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for beating his six-year-old nephew, causing a brain haemorrhage and leading to death.

The verdict, which was handed down in February, reduces the previous court's sentence, with the consideration that his uncle did not intend to kill him, quoted from the Korea Times, March 27.

Last year, his 40-year-old uncle and his 31-year-old wife, both surnamed Kim, were sentenced to 25 years in prison by a lower court on murder charges for beating his nephew to death at their home in Incheon, west of Seoul, South Korea on Saturday. August 2020.

It is known, the couple began treating the victim with their two children in April 2020. Since then, the victim has been abused due to picky eating or vomiting. According to court records, the victim suffered 16 broken ribs.

However, the Seoul High Court reduced their sentences to 20 years in prison for the uncle and five years for his wife, on charges of child abuse resulting in death, not murder, saying the couple did not intend to kill him.

"It is difficult to conclude that the defendants ignored the victim with the knowledge that she was going to die, just based on the fact they did not take her to the hospital," the high court said, noting the husband and wife had applied an anti-inflammatory ointment on the victim's body.

The victim also showed no signs of serious illness for about nine to 10 hours after the violence, until she fainted after vomiting on the day of her death, the court added.

The court said it was also considering the man inadvertently caused the girl's death. While his wife did not take part in physical violence, he suffered from severe stress due to raising three children, including his own son and nephew.

"We feel bad to think about the pain the victim had to endure and the fact that the victim, who was previously healthy, died just four months after she started living with her uncle and aunt," the court said.