KORCCTV footage has been released regarding the case of a part-time worker who took her own life after reporting a sexual assault.
Late last December, Chae Dan-bi, who worked at a pub in Danwon-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, reported her 40s pub owner for quasi-rape.
Dan-bi claimed she was sexually assaulted by the pub owner at a drinking gathering held after business hours. CCTV footage from the day of the incident showed her wiping away tears while talking to the owner, and later showed the owner hugging and dragging a staggering Dan-bi from behind.
[Phone Call Between Late Chae Dan-bi and Friend / Actual Recording (Dec. 28, 2025) : Suddenly, you know table number 19 in front of the smoking room? (A very secluded spot) Yeah, he suddenly took me there and the owner suddenly... He actually did that. I kept saying this is really not right and that I hated it so much, but he kept going (What did the owner say?) He said there were no CCTV cameras there, so it was fine and told me to come over just once.]
On the day of the incident, Dan-bi reported the damage to a nearby police box in the afternoon, and after receiving a police investigation, she also underwent a medical examination at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic.
However, 52 days after the incident, a police notice of non-indictment arrived, and Dan-bi took her own life three days later.
[Friend of Late Chae Dan-bi : She just collapsed... It was my first time seeing her like that. We had been waiting, but with the non-indictment decision coming out, I think it came as an even greater shock to Dan-bi.]
Colleagues who worked with Dan-bi said the pub owner normally liked alcohol and spoke freely about Dan-bi.
[Pub Part-Time Colleague : (When he drinks) He talks a lot, makes physical contact with male and female part-time workers alike, and frequently said things like, "Dan-bi is really pretty, Dan-bi is truly pretty." Like, "Guys like a face like Dan-bi's."]
A blood test taken on the afternoon of the incident showed Dan-bi's blood alcohol concentration was 0.085%, a level of severe intoxication grounds for license revocation. Based on the time the sexual assault took place, it was estimated to have been at least twice as high.
However, the police dismissed the case as "no charges," citing grounds such as the two individuals smiling, talking, and moving between places in the pub before and after the incident, as well as physical contact during the drinking session.
[Ansan Police Station Investigation Supervisor : CCTV is the most objective evidence. When you watch the footage, you can't indict based on this, and that's easy to understand. There was physical contact from before the sexual act, starting from the gathering. (Can contact or touches made two or three hours before the act be interpreted as consent to the sexual act?) Since there are statements from employees and statements from the suspect, and it was perceived that he judged it would normally be thought of as such, it is difficult to view that he recognized the victim was in a state of loss of consciousness and took advantage of it.]
The police did not call her in for a separate investigation aside from the day Dan-bi made the report, and experts point out that concluding the case without an additional investigation into the victim amounted to a shoddy investigation.
[Pyo Chang-won / Crime Profiler : Did the investigator in charge of this case properly understand the unique characteristics, factors to watch out for, and aspects that can be easily overlooked that accompany sexual violence cases?]
[Oh Sun-hee / Lawyer and Former Prosecutor : They should have additionally verified whether the perpetrator's words were true. If they just intuitively say, "Oh, the stories differ. Choose the more comfortable side," then it stops being an investigation and becomes nothing more than fortune-telling.]
Netizens who encountered the case showed angry reactions, commenting, "How aggrieved must the bereaved families be to disclose the deceased's real name and face," and "Investigate properly and punish the perpetrator."
(Planned by Yoon Sung-sik, Video Edited by Kim Na-on, Screen Source: Unanswered Questions Episode 1500, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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