In Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, a woman in her 30s was arrested after she beat her 8-month-old son in the head multiple times with a TV remote control, causing his death.
On the 30th, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency urgently arrested A under suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death) and is under investigation. A is suspected of abusing her 8-month-old son, B, by hitting his head multiple times with a TV remote control at her home in Siheung on the 10th, leading to his death on the 14th.
A and her spouse reportedly took B to a hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the 10th, after the assault. At the time, B had suffered severe head injuries, including a skull fracture, and medical staff reportedly determined that hospitalization was necessary. However, A took the child home without admitting him.
Afterward, A found B unconscious at home and visited the same hospital in Bucheon on the afternoon of the 13th, and B died on the morning of the 14th, hours later.
Police who received the case suspected the possibility that A and her spouse had been involved in the circumstances of B's death and launched an investigation. While analyzing footage from a home camera (home closed-circuit TV) installed in the house, police confirmed that A and her spouse repeatedly left the deceased B alone for hours at a time.
Police first focused their questioning on them based on this pattern of habitual neglect. A, who initially said, "I dropped the child while washing and injured the head," eventually admitted to the assault under continued questioning by police.
Based on the confession, police urgently arrested A. The National Forensic Service also notified police with a preliminary oral opinion from the autopsy that "the death is presumed to be from head injury." In the police investigation, A reportedly said in effect that "the child would not sleep and was whimpering, so I committed the crime."
Police are also questioning B's biological father as a reference to focus on whether there was neglect and aiding and abetting of abuse. In view of the seriousness of the case, police plan to apply for an arrest warrant for A within the day.