PROSECUTION INVESTIGATES CHILD ABUSE CASE

[Anchor Lead]

A child abuse case involving a woman from Gyeongsangnam-do Province who beat her stepdaughter to death has been transferred to prosecutors for investigation. It's the first case of applying the new legislation that toughens punishment for child abuse.

[Pkg]

In the early morning hours, a rescue worker rushes out of an apartment building. He is followed by a father carrying his teenage daughter. They all board an ambulance. The girl was transported to a nearby hospital within five minutes but eventually passed away. The person who physically assaulted this young girl to death is her stepmother, who is in her 40s. The stepmother stepped on the young girl's belly multiple times and shoved her, causing her to hit her head on the toilet. The immediate cause of the girl's death so far has been identified as organ damage due to external shock. Her stepmother testified that she abused the girl because she got angry after filing for divorce on that day and having a fight with her husband on the phone.

[Soundbite] (Stepmother) : "(What would you like to say to your deceased daughter?) ..."

The police decided to apply a revised law on child abuse because the woman was aware that the girl might die from the assault. The case has been transferred to prosecutors for investigation. The new legislation seeks tougher punishment for child abuse and homicide. Its penalties and sentencing are tougher than the previous law on child abuse and involuntary manslaughter involving minors. Police believe that the suspect had been abusing the victim for two years and her maltreatment intensified even more after she and her husband separated back in March.

[Soundbite] Park Byung-jun(Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency) : "We applied this law because the suspect continued to abuse her daughter for nearly two hours after the girl became too frail due to continuous beating."

Police have also found that the deceased girl's two younger siblings witnessed their mother's abuse, and one of them also fell victim to her brutality.