Police arrest man for brutally abusing 9-year-old stepdaughter
The foster father of a nine-year-old girl is escorted to Changnyeong Police Station in Changneyong County, South Gyeongsang Province, for questioning on charges of abusing the child, June 13. Yonhap
Police kept a man charged of brutally abusing his nine-year-old stepdaughter in custody Saturday, two weeks after the girl escaped from her home seeking help.
The 35-year-old suspect was to appear in court for an extension of detention warrant hearing, but this was delayed after he attempted to harm himself to protest a decision to place his other children in temporary custody
The suspect declined to answer questions asked from reporters.
The police plan to question the victim's 27-year-old mother, who has been hospitalized, in the near future.
On May 29, a barefooted 9-year-old girl was found wandering on a roadside by a neighbor in the southeastern city of Changnyeong.
It was later revealed that the girl ran away from home after being brutally abused by her mother and stepfather, who allegedly even burnt her feet with heated metal chopsticks.
The victim also testified to the child protection agency that she was given only one meal a day and that the parents also kept her chained up.
The police raided the man's home and found a handful of items presumed to have been used to abuse the victim, including chains and a frying pan.
Investigators have secured two boxes of evidence so far.
Police can hold him for up to 48 hours from the moment of detention before winning a court-issued warrant for additional confinement.
"We seeking to verify the allegations made by the victim," a police officer said. (Yonhap)