.jpg) Police believe Kim Kil-tae is a key suspect in the kidnap killing of Lee Yoo-ri, a middle school student, in Busan. Kim has been put on a wanted list with 20 million won offered as reward for tips that may lead to his apprehension. / Korea Times |
Children are exposed to the unfiltered dangers of sex, violence and commercial exploitation, without enough being done to protect them. Here are two cases and one statistics that well capture this bitter situation. ㅡED.
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A 13-year-old girl was found dead in Busan 11 days after she was kidnapped, police said Saturday.
According to officers, the remains of the girl, identified as Lee Yoo-ri, were discovered inside an abandoned water tank just 100 meters away from her home. Lee was kidnapped at around 7 p.m. on Feb. 24.
Her body showed signs of being strangled after being raped several times. Convicted rapist Kim Kil-tae, 33, has been put on the wanted list as a prime suspect.
This case is an eerie reminder of when two girls were snatched in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Christmas Day in 2008 and killed by a 39-year-old man.
Police found Lee's body, while inspecting the rooftop of a house in Deokpo-dong, Sasang-gu, Busan, at 9:20 p.m. Saturday. The container in which her body was found was a blue water tank measuring 1.25 meters high and 88 centimeters wide. Her body was wrapped in a black plastic bag, they said.
The police officer who first found the body was quoted as saying, "When I removed the top of the water tank, one of her legs was seen protruding through a plastic wrap."
She was naked with her arms and legs tied with rope, the officer added. Residents of a small apartment next to the boiler room where the container was located said the tank had not been in use for a long time so that they had no idea that the body was there.
The discovery came during an intensive search by police in Lee's neighborhood. Police found fingerprints on the wrap and are checking to see whether they belong to the suspect, Kim.
Her body was taken to a Busan hospital for an autopsy.
In an interim report released Sunday, police said it appears she was strangled and had been inside the water tank for several days. They also said the body had traces of repeated rape.
Except for the 11 years during which he was imprisoned, the suspect Kim has lived in the village, police said. Nearly 2,000 detectives and police officers have met Kim's family, relatives and friends and also thoroughly reviewed footage from scores of CCTVs in the neighborhood. But the investigation has so far made little progress.
Last Wednesday night, police saw a man running away from an abandoned house near the child's home, but failed to catch him. A reward of 20 million won ($17,500) is being offered to anyone with information on the prime suspect's whereabouts.
The girl went missing from her house, following a brief phone call to her mother at around 7 p.m., Feb. 24. Her glasses and mobile phone were left at her home.
For the first three days after her abduction, police approached the case in a low-key fashion but then made it public, as previous kidnapping cases have proven that the odds of survival after the first 48 hours are reduced dramatically.
Residents expressed shock at the news of the discovery. "The abandoned boiler room where her body was found is an area where people are afraid to go alone even in daylight. A crime can take place there anytime," one said.
A mother of a middle school girl in the area said that she does not know what to do about her daughter, who sometimes come back home late at night after school.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
부산 여중생 시신으로 발견
지난달 24일 부산 사상구의 한 다세대주택에서 실종됐던 여중생 이모 (13) 양이 11일만에 이웃집 물탱크 안에서 숨진 채 발견됐다.
이 사건을 수사중인 부산 사상경찰서는 6일 오후 9시23분께 이 양의 집에서 직선거리로 50ｍ, 도보로 100ｍ가량 떨어진 권모 (67) 씨의 집 보일러실 위에 놓인 물탱크 안에서 이 양의 시신을 발견했다고 7일 밝혔다.
그런데 이곳 주변은 경찰이 부산에서 단일 사건으로는 최대 인원인 2만여명과 헬기, 수색견을 동원해 초기부터 수차례 뒤졌던 곳이어서 그 동안의 수색작업이 허술했다는 비판을 피하기 어렵게 됐다.
경찰의 허술한 대응은 이 양의 실종 당일부터 시작됐다는 지적도 제기된다.
시력이 나쁜 (왼쪽 0.2, 오른쪽 0.5) 이 양이 안경은 물론 휴대전화기도 놓고 집에서 사려졌고, 집 화장실 바닥에서 외부인의 것으로 추정되는 운동화 발자국 3~4점이 발견됐는데도 경찰의 본격적인 수색은 다음날 아침부터 이뤄졌다. 납치보다는 가출 등 단순한 실종사건일 가능성을 염두에 둔 탓이다.
이후 경찰은 밤낮으로 이 양의 집 주변에서 대대적인 수색작업을 벌였으나 용의자는 이웃집 옥상에서 이 양의 시신을 담은 검은색 비닐봉지를 물탱크 안에 넣고, 건축자재 등으로 덮어 위장하는 치밀함과 여유를 보였다.
또 경찰은 아무런 근거 없이 이 양이 살아 있을 것으로 보고, 주변 물탱크와 정화조 등을 초기 수색대상에서 제외하고 빈집이나 폐가를 집중적으로 뒤진 것으로 알려졌다.
열흘이 지나도록 이 양이나 공개수배한 용의자를 본 사람이 나타나지 않고, 주변에 설치된 폐쇄회로TV (CCTV) 37대에도 용의자 등이 찍히지 않은 것으로 확인되자 뒤늦게 한 정밀수색에서 이 양의 시신을 발견한 것.
경찰이 지난 3일 이 양의 집에서 20여ｍ 떨어진 빈집을 수색하다 용의자 김 씨를 눈앞에서 놓친 것도 뼈아픈 대목이다.
용의자가 주변 지리를 훤하게 꿰뚫고 있다는 사실을 알고도 예상 도주로를 봉쇄하지 않은 채 수색작업을 벌이다 빚은 실책이라는 비판을 면하기 어렵다.
이 양의 집과 시신이 발견된 곳, 경찰이 김 씨를 눈앞에서 놓친 곳이 모두 반경 50ｍ 안에 있다는 점도 경찰을 곤혹스럽게 한다.
sahds@koreatimes.co.kr
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