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| Two middle school boys who face charges of rape arrive at Incheon District Court, Thursday, to attend a session held to determine the validity of the arrest warrants sought by police. The court issued warrants for their arrest later in the day. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Two male students at a middle school in Incheon have been arrested for allegedly raping a teenage girl who attended the same school, according to Incheon Yeonsu Police Station Friday.
Police officials said the 15-year-old boys are facing charges of violating the Sexual Violence Crime Act.
Kim Byeong-kook, a judge at Incheon District Court, issued warrants for their arrest the previous day.
"Although they are juveniles, there were unavoidable grounds for arrest," Kim said.
On Dec. 23, the boys allegedly raped and assaulted the girl after forcing her to drink alcohol at a gym. The victim fell unconscious, and was dragged up the stairs near the rooftop of the building, before she was raped and assaulted, according to the girl's mother.
During the investigation, the police took DNA samples from the boys and asked the National Forensic Service to analyze them. The DNA matched the semen taken from the victim's body.
One suspect pleaded guilty to rape, while the other rejected the charge, according to police.
The middle school attended by the defendants and the victim held a committee meeting on school violence, Jan. 3, and ordered the boys to move to other schools.
The two are now attending two different schools in Incheon.
On Thursday, an elder brother of the victim submitted a petition to Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, claiming the school had tried to cover up the incident.
The brother also wrote that the perpetrators had pretended to be assault victims and that one of the perpetrators even went on a trip overseas with his family while the victim was suffering mental trauma.
The mother of the victim posted a petition on a website run by the presidential office, March 29, asking for harsh punishment for the boys.
"The perpetrators had caused lots of trouble such as the sexual harassment and assault of female students, even before the incident," she wrote.
The petition has been supported by more than 342,000 citizens as of 1 p.m. Friday.
