By Chung Ah-young
The Supreme Court has upheld a high court ruling that confirmed a sentence of 20 years in prison for a woman found guilty of murdering her two-year-old adopted daughter.
The top court said Tuesday that it rejected the appeal by the 47-year-old woman, surnamed Kim.
Kim adopted a baby girl when she was 14 months old in 2013. According to the court, she regularly hit the baby. In October 2014, as Kim suffered from stress due to her debts, she beat the baby with an iron pipe for 30 minutes.
Also, she forcibly fed slices of red peppers to the baby and showered her with cold water.
The daughter died from internal bleeding at the hospital a day after the incident.
The victim lost almost one fifth of her blood when she was taken to the hospital.
The lower court and high court found Kim guilty of murder, sentencing her to 20 years in jail. “The child’s death from the brutal attacks and abuse clearly caused the heavy bleeding of the victim,” the court said.
Kim was also indicted for forging public documents to adopt the girl from an adoption agency.
Kim’s husband was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for neglecting to protect the victim by not providing living expenses after separating from Kim.