Woman arrested over death of abused daughter

By Kim Jae-heun

A woman was arrested, Sunday, following the death of her five-year-old daughter who had been trapped in a travel bag for hours.

However, police said, Monday, they are investigating a new suspicion that the child may have in fact drowned.

The mother, 42, visited a hospital emergency room on Thursday, carrying the daughter who was unconscious. She claimed that she had locked the girl in a travel bag for two hours as a punishment for lying, and the girl was not breathing when she opened the case.

Doctors there reported the woman to police for suspected child abuse after finding bruises over about two thirds of the girl's body. Police apprehended the mother on the spot and requested an arrest warrant for her on a charge of child abuse resulting in death.

Police are further investigating the possibility the girl may not have died from suffocation in the bag but rather by drowning, following a doctor's testimony and the hospital's record that when she arrived at the hospital at 6:27 p.m., the victim's hands showed signs of having been submersed in water with her hands being wet and swollen. She had already stopped breathing and had no pulse upon arrival.

The mother told police that she hit her daughter a few days earlier but she did not do so on the day she died. Also, the mother said she threw water on her child to wake her up when she had lost consciousness.

Police have requested the National Forensic Service to perform an autopsy to find the exact cause of the girl's death.

They are also investigating if the mother habitually abused the girl physically following testimony from neighbors that they heard the woman beating her daughter often. The father will also be questioned over whether he was aware of and involved in the abuse.