Stepmother, father indicted over fatal abuse of son

This photo shows a stepmother who was indicted on charges of child abuse homicide and habitual child abuse, respectively, Feb. 16. Newsis

A stepmother and a father were indicted Tuesday on charges of child abuse homicide and habitual child abuse, respectively, in connection with the recent death of their 12-year-old son, prosecutors said.

The child, a fifth grader, died at a hospital about a month ago after being found unconscious with what appeared to be bruises all over his body at their home in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul.

The Incheon District Prosecutors Office said the 43-year-old stepmother and her 40-year-old husband, the biological father of the victim child, were referred to trial after being put under pretrial detention three days after the child's death on Feb. 7.

The stepmother is accused of physically abusing the child 22 times since May last year by, for instance, poking him in the thighs with a pencil or tying him to a chair blindfolded with a curtain string. Due to the prolonged abuse by his stepmother, the child lost eight kilograms in one year, prosecutors said.

Her husband is also accused of assaulting the child with his hands and feet for about one year, they added. (Yonhap)