[Anchor]
A 17-month-old girl was found in a state of cardiac arrest in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and ultimately died after being rushed to the hospital. Police have arrested a father who left his young daughter home alone while going to work and failed to feed her properly for about 10 days.
Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
Around 10 p.m. on October 28, in front of a residential building in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Multiple ambulances and police cars are parked at the scene.
Emergency responders were dispatched after receiving a report from the girl's father stating that his 17-month-old daughter was not breathing.
The child was transported to the hospital in a state of cardiac arrest and eventually passed away.
Although no signs of external trauma were found on her body, the child was severely emaciated, and the National Forensic Service provided an oral opinion from the autopsy indicating that the cause appeared to be malnutrition.
It was found that the father of the deceased child went to work without properly feeding her for approximately 10 days.
Confirming circumstances of neglect, the police arrested the biological father, a man in his 30s identified as A, on charges of child abuse resulting in death.
[Suspect A: (Did you not realize the child could die?) I am sorry.]
Police found that A stated during questioning, "My wife left the house earlier this month, and with no one to look after her, I left the child alone and went to work."
Investigations also revealed that for about the past 10 days, A fed his daughter formula only twice a day, once before leaving for work and once after returning home.
Police concluded that A neglected the child by failing to transition her to solid foods, a stage appropriate for a typical 17-month-old, instead leaving her unattended.
The local government jurisdiction stated that A had no prior reports filed against him for child abuse and was not a recipient of basic livelihood security benefits.
[Resident: I never thought there was a child in that household because I had never once seen anyone walking around with a baby. There was a time when a fight broke out between the couple; I woke up from my sleep because they were fighting so violently.]
While conducting a forensic analysis of A's mobile phone, the police are continuing to question him regarding the reasons why he failed to properly care for the child.
(VJ: Lee Jun-young, Noh Jae-min | Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)
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