By Kang Aa-young, Park Si-soo
A woman has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for killing her premature baby, an appellate court in Gwangju said Sunday.
The court upheld a lower court's guilty verdict, but reduced the sentence from one year to 10 months, after taking into account her “deep remorse” and that she had no criminal history.
According to court documents, the woman, 39, delivered a premature baby at home in August 2016 when she was in the 28th week of pregnancy. Instead of going to a hospital, she wrapped the baby in a blanket and abandoned the child in a closet. The woman’s sister found the dead baby a day later and told police.
The court said the accused woman did not go to hospital despite clear signs of premature delivery. Even after the baby was born, she had done nothing to ensure its survival, it added.