Police request arrest warrant for mother accused of killing 2 newborns

This undated photo shows Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency. Yonhap

Police on Thursday sought an arrest warrant for a mother accused of killing her two newborn babies and storing their bodies in a refrigerator at home.

The woman in her 30s, who was apprehended Wednesday, was charged with infanticide, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency.

The suspect allegedly strangled the two babies to death shortly after giving birth, one in November 2018 and the other in November 2019, and had kept their bodies in a fridge in her apartment in Suwon, just south of Seoul.

She delivered the babies, known to be a boy and a girl, at hospitals but killed one at her home and the other near the hospital just one day after their births, police said.

The suspect admitted to killing the infants due to economic hardships while raising three children, saying she lied to her husband that she had an abortion, police said.

Police launched the probe earlier this month after receiving a report from the Suwon city government about the babies, who had no birth registration despite having birth records.

Prosecutors plan to review the arrest warrant request and her arrest warrant hearing, if confirmed, is expected to be held Friday. (Yonhap)