Victim of Spousal Murder Protected Child Until Her Final Moments Facing a Weapon

[Anchor]

It has been revealed that a female victim, who was murdered by her husband while undergoing divorce proceedings, had hesitated to report domestic violence due to her husband's status as a public official. Adding to the tragedy, it was confirmed that she looked after her young child until her very last moments.

Reporter An Huijae has the details.

[Reporter]

It was in April when victim B, who was brutally murdered by her husband in his 30s, Mr. A, while they were going through a divorce, visited a police substation.

She requested counseling for domestic violence, stating, "Mr. A swore at me during an argument, and I feel so distressed."

Two days later, B visited the police again and confessed that a drunk Mr. A had threatened her with a weapon, saying, "Stab me, either you die or I die, someone has to die for this to end." She added, "Mr. A said he would not leave me alone if I reported it to the police," and "I cannot report him because I am afraid of retaliation."

B even refused a warning measure, expressing concern that if disciplinary action or disadvantages were inflicted on Mr. A as a public official, things would escalate.

Later, believing her address had been exposed during the service of divorce lawsuit documents, she received her third smartwatch, but it failed to prevent the catastrophe.

The 112 emergency call transcript secured by SBS contains the sound of a child crying for their mother, along with a woman's voice saying, "Baby, come here."

This confirmed that B, who had suffered from repeated domestic violence, looked after her young child until the final moment in front of Mr. A, who was wielding a weapon.

The police, who are investigating the motive for the crime and other details, stated that Mr. A's personal information will not be made public.

"Considering the wishes of the bereaved family and concerns over potential secondary victimization when the child grows up, we decided not to hold a public disclosure committee," they explained.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated that it will work to improve systems to prevent the exposure of personal information of domestic violence victims that may occur during legal proceedings.

(Video editing: Lee So-young, Design: Park Cheon-woong, Cho Souin)

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