Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Police dismiss alleged rape of 96-year-old woman despite DNA evidence
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By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
A 96-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a man who entered her house, but despite the testimony of an eyewitness and DNA evidence, the police dismissed the case, saying the testimony of the victim, who suffers from dementia, “lacked consistency.”
According to Paju Police and a report by local broadcaster YTN, Wednesday, the woman's neighbor, who is in his 80s, allegedly entered the victim's home, on March 22, assaulted and raped her.
It is said the victim was in the habit of leaving her door unlocked for people to come and go.
The perpetrator allegedly came into the victim's bedroom and assaulted her, which was witnessed by her granddaughter who was in another room at the time. She called the police immediately, and the man denied all charges when he was confronted by police while leaving the scene of the alleged crime.
The family claimed that the man came into the house multiple times since the end of last year while other family members were away. Last January, he was caught by the victim's son while attempting to assault the woman and was kicked out, according to YTN.
Upon analysis by the National Forensic Service of evidence collected from a medical examination of the victim, the presence of the man's DNA was confirmed. However, the police closed the four-month investigation in July without bringing any charges against him, citing “a lack of clarity in the victim's statement.”
The victim's family filed a petition with the prosecution to raise an objection. The prosecution ordered the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency to reinvestigate the case.
“Police violated the fundamental principle of a sexual violence investigation, which is to consider the context of the victim. The victim's statement should have been comprehensively analyzed, taking the victim's age and health condition into consideration,” Seo Hae-jin, a lawyer from the Korean Women Lawyers Association, told The Korea Times, Wednesday.
“If the victim is a senior dementia patient, investigators should have sought other means to derive a clearer statement, with the help of experts. This case shows the lack of will and professionalism of police, especially with other evidence and testimony in hand,” Seo said.
According to the police, 3,442 cases of sex offenses against seniors were reported from 2015 to 2019.
“Less than 10 percent of sex crimes are reported and filed as cases. The proportion is presumed to be even lower in cases of assaults on senior women, because victims have difficulties in self-expression. Also, their generation tends to be more ashamed of being a victim of such crimes, so, in reality, there is a high likelihood that there are more assaults on senior women than is shown in statistics,” Seo said.