[Anchor]
A man in his 60s in Seoul has murdered a woman in her 70s with whom he had previously broken up. However, SBS coverage revealed that the victim was classified as a "Grade A management target," meaning she was deemed to be at a higher risk in relationship-based crimes like stalking. Despite classifying her as a high-risk group and managing her, the authorities failed to prevent the crime.
Reporter Je Hui-won has the details.
[Reporter]
Following a series of relationship-based crimes including stalking, the Korean National Police Agency conducted a full inspection of approximately 44,000 relationship-based crime cases from October 19 to 30.
The police announced that among all victims, about 21,000 individuals deemed to be in more dangerous situations were classified as Grade A and provided with protective measures.
However, SBS coverage confirmed that the 70-year-old victim in this murder case was also a Grade A management target.
The police designated her as Grade A last June after she reported continued stalking by the male murder suspect.
A "Grade A management target" is a relationship-based crime victim whom the police contact at least once a month to check on their safety. The police stated that the assigned officer checked on this victim's safety much more frequently than standard management criteria.
Regarding the tragedy that occurred just two weeks after the suspect's tracking device monitoring period expired, the police explained that they had already forwarded the stalking and assault cases to the prosecution, and that they had notified the victim last month that her provisional measures were ending while also advising her to take precautions.
However, it turned out that no consultations had taken place with the prosecution regarding additional protective measures.
[Park Yoon-hee / Attorney (Former Prosecutor, Women and Children Crimes Investigation Division): For high-risk groups like this, materials assessing the level of risk should be mandatorily submitted before the expiration period of provisional measures. Extending protective measures shouldn't be left up to the victim to request or the prosecutor to figure out on their own.]
Although full-scale inspections are repeatedly conducted to prevent the recurrence of relationship-based crimes, yet another victim whom public authority failed to protect has lost her life.
(Video by Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Kim Jin-won | Design by Seo Hyun-jung)
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