A boy who supported his household by doing delivery work while caring for his grandmother took his own life after he could no longer endure a senior's brutal abuse, a fact that emerged belatedly.
According to legal sources on the 29th, the Andong branch of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office indicted B, 17, last month on the 21st on charges including assault, intimidation, extortion, and unlawful confinement. A, 16, was found dead on Aug. 19 on the roof of an apartment in Angi-dong, Andong, North Gyeongsang.
Prosecutors said B forced A to buy a 125cc motorcycle for 1.4 million won after purchasing it secondhand for 700,000 won in July. A, who only had 700,000 won at the time, earned and paid down the remainder through part-time chicken delivery work, but delays occurred because his income was irregular.
Using this as a pretext, B repeatedly threatened and assaulted A while demanding additional money as arrears fees. It is reported that the money A sent to B—either his entire daily wages or funds borrowed from acquaintances—amounted to as much as 5 million won.
Two days before his death, on Aug. 17, A was caught driving without a license after someone reported him, and the police impounded his motorcycle, his only source of income. With no way to raise money to pay B and unable to overcome fear of retaliation, A called his girlfriend in the early morning of the 19th and left a last message: "Please tell my grandmother I'm sorry," before leaving this world.
B's ruthless conduct continued on the day A died. Exploiting the fact that the title had not been transferred, B went to the police station to retrieve the impounded motorcycle and then sold it to another person for 1.7 million won.
Police initially classified the case as an unattended death, but they reopened the probe after nine friends testified at the funeral that A had been bullied by a senior. Through three months of mobile phone forensic analysis, police substantiated specific criminal allegations and referred B to prosecutors.
If you are struggling with depression or have family or acquaintances facing similar difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling via the suicide prevention hotline at ☎109 or through the SNS counseling service "Madeleine."