By Ko Dong-hwan
A man found guilty of abusing his disabled sister, which led to her death, faces a verdict from an appellate court later this month.
The man, 39, was sentenced to five years in prison last year for causing the death of his intellectually disabled sister by repeatedly abusing her at their home in Cheonan. At Wednesday's hearing ahead of the ruling by the Daejeon High Court on Mar. 26, he cried and said he "flipped out" the moment he committed the crime.
"I mentally collapsed," he said. "I saw her cut the family clothes into pieces with a pair of scissors (after coming back from work) and I could not stand it."
The father of two children, who both have disabilities, asked for leniency.
Prosecutors, however, demanded a heavy sentence. They claimed the man became his sister's guardian only to receive a government subsidy for mentally disabled people, which is about 900,000 won ($790) per month.
Among his charges are tying her up inside their home while he was outside and giving her little food. He also kept the heaters off when she was alone even when temperatures outside were below zero. After working, he returned home a day or sometimes three days later. The abuse caused her to lose weight, once from 80 to 28 kilograms.
His lawyer denied some of the accusations, saying money was never his purpose and that he had tried hard to take care of her before the tragic incident.
"After his father and grandmother passed away, he had been taking care of the victim since 2015," his lawyer said. "It has been difficult for him to financially support his family with temporary jobs paying low wages, but he did the best he could."
The victim was classified as suffering from "Level 1" intellectual disability, which is the worst out of three classes standardized by Korea's Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. People with such conditions require the help of others to live normal lives.
The man said he had considered sending his sister to a welfare facility but couldn't, because it was impossible to receive consent from their mother who had left the family.
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| Gettyimagesbank |
The man, 39, was sentenced to five years in prison last year for causing the death of his intellectually disabled sister by repeatedly abusing her at their home in Cheonan. At Wednesday's hearing ahead of the ruling by the Daejeon High Court on Mar. 26, he cried and said he "flipped out" the moment he committed the crime.
"I mentally collapsed," he said. "I saw her cut the family clothes into pieces with a pair of scissors (after coming back from work) and I could not stand it."
The father of two children, who both have disabilities, asked for leniency.
Prosecutors, however, demanded a heavy sentence. They claimed the man became his sister's guardian only to receive a government subsidy for mentally disabled people, which is about 900,000 won ($790) per month.
Among his charges are tying her up inside their home while he was outside and giving her little food. He also kept the heaters off when she was alone even when temperatures outside were below zero. After working, he returned home a day or sometimes three days later. The abuse caused her to lose weight, once from 80 to 28 kilograms.
His lawyer denied some of the accusations, saying money was never his purpose and that he had tried hard to take care of her before the tragic incident.
"After his father and grandmother passed away, he had been taking care of the victim since 2015," his lawyer said. "It has been difficult for him to financially support his family with temporary jobs paying low wages, but he did the best he could."
The victim was classified as suffering from "Level 1" intellectual disability, which is the worst out of three classes standardized by Korea's Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. People with such conditions require the help of others to live normal lives.
The man said he had considered sending his sister to a welfare facility but couldn't, because it was impossible to receive consent from their mother who had left the family.
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