The mother of a 3-year-old toddler who died from being thrown against a wall was booked for violation of children’s welfare law on Wednesday.
Gangwon Province Chuncheon Police said she is accused of conniving in the cohabiting man’s abuse against her son.
Jeong (Yonhap)
The 23-year-old mother surnamed Noh came to live with the 33-year-old surnamed Jeong on May 17, after meeting him over a chatting application.
While Noh worked at night, Jeong stayed at home and looked after the child. He was taking time off odd jobs he worked since suffering an injury.
On Friday night, Jeong came home drunk and found the toddler had soiled the floor. Jeong cleaned up after the baby, but when the toddler did not stop crying, he threw him twice against a wall and wardrobe, the impact of which killed the 3-year-old.
In the investigation that ensued, police found traces of bruises on the dead toddler’s face separate from those that resulted in his death.
Jeong confessed he had hit the baby several times for not being potty-trained.
Noh, despite being aware of the abuse, took no actions against Jeong to protect her son.
She belatedly learned of her son’s death, a day after he died, only when Jeong relayed to her what had happened.
Police plan to apply a charge of violation of children’s welfare law on both Jeong and Noh and refer the case to prosecutors, at the earliest on Thursday.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
