A South Korean woman who was punished for biting off the tongue of the man who tried raping her is going to get a retrial. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the 78-year-old woman will have another chance at justice for a case sentenced 60 years ago.
What happened 60 years ago?
According to the outlet, she was attacked near her home by a man named Noh. At that time, she was just 18 years old. She fought against the man and finally stopped the assault by biting off his tongue.
However, the court at that time determined that she was guilty of aggravated bodily injury on another, despite claiming that she bit off 1.5 cm of his tongue in self-defence.
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While she received 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, the man who attacked her spent six months behind bars after receiving a two-year suspension.
{{/usCountry}}While she received 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, the man who attacked her spent six months behind bars after receiving a two-year suspension.
{{/usCountry}}In an interview with The Korea Herald in 2020, as cited by the outlet, the victim recalled how the prosecutor fighting her case tried to convince her to marry the man who assaulted her. “I said I did nothing wrong, and [the prosecutor] said if I didn’t comply, I would have to spend the rest of my life in jail,” she said. She also added that, at the time, she was coerced into accepting her sentence.
However, her ordeal didn’t end there. As per the outlet, her father exhausted all his savings in a settlement with Noh, who continued harassing her family on different occasions.
“Fight for justice”
In the 2000s, when the victim pursued higher studies, she understood the injustice she had endured. Eventually, she sought a retrial with the help of a group that works with victims of sexual abuse. After years of fighting, including failed retrial bids dating back to 2020, the Supreme Court ordered the Busan High Court to review her case. The court said her testimony was “specific and consistent,” reported the outlet.
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“There are enough grounds to believe that there had been unlawful arrest and detention without warrant, as dictated by the Criminal Procedure Act,” the Busan High Court said.
“Though unthinkable and abhorrent today, it was not uncommon for courts of the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea to play matchmaker between rape victims and their rapists,” The Korea Herald stated in a 2023 article, reported the SCMP.