[Anchor]

Following the death of an 11-year-old boy at a church in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the boy's maternal grandmother has been taken into custody, following the earlier arrest of the church pastor. Criticism is mounting against the police and local government for failing to protect the child despite a series of suspected abuse reports.

TJB reporter Oh In-gyun has the details.

[Reporter]

A woman in her 50s wearing a mask walks out under the guidance of a court official.

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

The court issued an arrest warrant for the grandmother, who is accused of abusing A to death, 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 is growing over the response of relevant authorities as A was not properly protected despite repeated reports suspected of child abuse prior to his death.

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

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

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

Police and city officials discussed placing him in a protective facility, but sent him back to the church on the grounds that A did not want it.

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

On the 3rd, A visited a local police box with a citizen and filed a suspected child abuse report.

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

Eventually, on the very day the court dismissed the separation measure, A showed abnormal symptoms at the church and died.

Police are investigating whether additional abuse took place right up until the incident while focusing on uncovering the exact cause of death.

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

Oh In-gyun, TJB