Police detain mother of 3-year-old over child abuse

By Bahk Eun-ji

Police have launched an investigation after a three-year-old girl was found outside her house without sufficient clothing Friday, during the ongoing recent cold snap in Seoul.

Gangbuk Police Station said Sunday that they have detained the girl's mother on charges of child abandonment and neglect.

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According to police, they received a report at around 5:40 p.m. that a girl was seen on the street, near a convenience store close to her place of residence.

The temperature in Seoul dropped to minus 11 degrees Celsius, Friday, with a wind chill factor taking it to minus 17 degrees, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

When she was found by a passerby, she asked for help and said she hadn't eaten anything all day. The three-year-old had been at home for about nine hours after her mother went to work in the morning. She went outside for a minute and accidentally locked herself out of the house.

Officers immediately took the three-year-old girl into care before sending her to a close relative rather than a welfare facility.

They said it was assumed the mother had been habitually neglecting her daughter based on statements from her neighbors.

Police plan to further investigate whether the mother raised the three-year-old in an unsanitary environment and could charge her with child abuse.