[Anchor]

Following the church pastor, the maternal grandmother has also been arrested in connection with the death of an 11-year-old boy who lived at a church in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Criticism is mounting against the police and local government for repeatedly sending the child back to the church despite multiple child abuse reports.

TJB reporter Oh In-gyun has the details.

[Reporter]

A woman in her 50s wearing a mask walks out guided by court staff.

She is the maternal grandmother of 11-year-old A, who died after showing symptoms of a decreased level of consciousness at a church in Cheonan on the 5th.

Today (the 11th), the court issued an arrest warrant for the grandmother, who is accused of abusing and causing the death of boy A, citing concerns that she might flee.

[(Do you have anything to say to the deceased child?) ...... (Why was the child tied up at the church?) ......]

Meanwhile, controversy surrounding the response of relevant authorities is growing as boy A was ultimately not properly protected despite repeated suspected abuse reports before his death.

Four days before his death, in the early morning, boy A is seen crossing a road alone and entering a convenience store.

A customer who was there took boy A to the police station.

[Convenience Store Employee: He came into the store wearing a sleeveless shirt and greeted me. At that time, there was a bruise under his eye.]

Police and city officials discussed admitting him to a shelter, but sent him back to the church on the grounds that boy A did not want to go.

The next day, boy A was found outside the church by a citizen.

Boy A went to a police box near the church with a citizen on the 3rd to file a suspected child abuse report.

The police applied to the court for a separation measure, but it was dismissed, and boy A had to return to the church where his maternal grandmother was.

Ultimately, on the same day the court dismissed the separation measure, boy A showed abnormal symptoms at the church and died.

The police are focusing their investigation on confirming whether additional abuse occurred right up until the incident, while also uncovering the exact cause of death.

(Video by Kim Kyung-han / TJB, Design by Park Bo-young / TJB)

Oh In-gyun, TJB