A woman in her 60s who had received a smartwatch after reporting stalking and had a restraining order died after an attack by her former partner with a weapon. The victim made an emergency report with the smartwatch, and police arrived at the scene in three minutes but failed to stop the crime. As it was also confirmed that the suspect had not been classified as a high-risk subject, controversy is expected to grow over the effectiveness of the protection system for stalking victims.
According to police on the 6th, a man in his 50s, identified as A, is suspected of fatally stabbing his former partner, a woman in her 60s identified as B, multiple times with a weapon at about 2:51 a.m. on the 5th on a street in Sangdaewon-dong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam.
A, a day laborer, was found to have determined B's quitting time in advance, prepared a weapon, and carried out the crime. The two were found to have dated for about four years before breaking up.
At the time of the crime, B made an emergency report using the smartwatch issued by police. Police arrived at the scene about three minutes after receiving the report. B was taken to a hospital but died at about 5:37 a.m. the same day.
Right after the crime, A harmed himself and is being treated at a hospital. Police plan to seek an arrest warrant as soon as A's treatment is finished.
Before this incident, on the 8th of last month, B had called 112 saying, in effect, that "A is harassing me." Police said there was no assault at the time, and B did not want the case to be filed. After separating the two, police sent A a warning not to approach B.
After that, from the 8th to the 9th of last month, A sent B eight text messages and tried to call 15 times. B did not answer any of the calls. The text messages reportedly included protest statements such as "Why did you send a warning letter?" and "Why are you doing this?"
B later filed a complaint against A on suspicion of violating the Stalking Punishment Act and received a smartwatch from police. Police sought an emergency measure and provisional measures Nos. 1 to 3 to restrict approach using telecommunications for A.
Afterward, the police women and youth division, the lead investigator, and the victim protection team (APO) checked B's condition and carried out monitoring. The last contact was on the 1st, and B was recorded as being in a safe condition at that time.
Police designated B's stalking victim risk level as level A and managed B with weekly phone monitoring. However, A, the suspect, was not designated as a high-risk subject within the three-stage risk system.
Police said they took necessary measures in line with the stalking prevention manual. But as B was killed despite the smartwatch issuance and restraining order, criticism seems inevitable over whether the protection measures were sufficient.
Meanwhile, A was found to have a prior assault record from 2009. However, police said it was a case from 17 years ago, was not directly related to B, and there was only one prior report related to B, on the 8th of last month.
A is currently being treated at a hospital and is reportedly in critical condition, facing additional surgery.