An Army noncommissioned officer who left his wife to die by neglecting her despite her entire body being contaminated with filth and her skin undergoing necrosis has been indicted on a murder charge.
According to the Army on the 16th, military investigators initially referred the NCO, identified only as A, on a charge of abandonment resulting in death, but the military prosecution indicted on a murder charge the day before.
The military prosecution determined that the crime of murder by omission (failing to perform a duty) could be established, and indicted with the principal charge of murder and the alternative charge of abandonment resulting in death.
On the 17th of last month in Gwangtan-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, a 119 call came in saying "my wife is drifting in and out of consciousness." When rescue workers arrived at the scene, A's wife's entire body was contaminated with filth, and it was found that skin necrosis was progressing in her lower limbs due to infection and bedsores.
A's wife was taken to a hospital and treated but eventually died. At the time of the incident, the hospital reported the case after seeing the patient's condition and suspecting neglect, and A was urgently arrested by police.
The investigation found that since August, even though bedsores had developed on the body of A's wife, who had difficulty moving due to panic disorder and depression, A took no medical treatment or protective measures for about three months.