By Cho Se-yong, Park Si-soo
An appeal court sentenced a couple to 15 years in prison after their toddler was strangled by a dog leash. The Daegu High Court upheld a lower court's ruling.
According to court documents, the couple's son, 3, was found dead in his room on July 12. His neck was caught in a dog leash that was tied to his bed frame.
The incident happened when the boy was getting out of the bed. The couple used the dog leash to prevent the boy from roaming around the house.
They were also charged with child abuse. An autopsy showed the baby was severely malnourished at the time of his death, weighing just 10 kilograms, four kilograms less than the average weight of boys of his age.
The court said the couple starved the child by feeding him one meal a day, and even went on trips leaving the baby home alone.
“The boy was abused by the people who were obliged to protect him,” Judge Park Joon-yong of the Daegu High Court wrote in a ruling statement.