[Anchor]
Early this morning, July 5, a man in his 50s murdered a woman in her 60s whom he had previously dated. It has been less than a month since the man was referred to the prosecution following a report of dating violence.
Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
In the dark of the early morning, a woman appears to step back as if encountering someone.
Soon after, a man holding an object approaches her.
At approximately 3:00 a.m. today, a man in his 50s, identified as A, approached his former partner, a woman in her 60s identified as B, and attacked her with a weapon.
[Witness: The woman seemed to be shouting, "Don't, don't," for about 30 seconds. The man kept saying, "You have to die."]
A had waited for the victim at this location, just 400 meters from her workplace, before carrying out the attack.
B was transported to a hospital by emergency services but passed away. A attempted to harm himself immediately after the crime and underwent emergency surgery, but he is reportedly currently unconscious.
Police investigation revealed that A had been referred to the prosecution without detention on June 8 for violating the Stalking Punishment Act after committing dating violence against B.
To protect the victim, police had issued a restraining order prohibiting A from approaching within 100 meters or contacting her, and provided B with a smart watch, but these measures were insufficient to prevent the crime.
Police believe A began stalking B out of suspicion that she was having an affair and committed the crime out of resentment over the police report.
Furthermore, authorities are focusing on the possibility of a premeditated crime, noting that A was wearing work gloves during the attack and had tracked the victim's route home from work.
Last year, 137 women were murdered by intimate partners, based on media reports alone.
While tragedies involving dating violence occur roughly once every three days, there is currently no effective way to prevent them.
[Seo Hye-jin, Lawyer/Korean Women Lawyers Association: Current laws only provide ex-post facto protection. It is urgent to establish a legal basis for preventive measures to protect victims in advance.]
The police plan to investigate the exact motive and circumstances of the crime as soon as A regains consciousness.
Reported by Lee Se-hyeon | Video by Im Dong-guk | Video Editing by Park Ji-in | Graphics by Han Heung-soo
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