While she is still traumatized by child abuse by her stepmother and paternal father, a post by a woman complaining that her parents cannot be punished because the statute of limitations has passed is attracting attention.
On Jan. 10, an online community posted a post titled, "I am a survivor of child abuse."
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Author A said, "My brother's story and I appeared on SBS's 'Curious Story Y' on Children's Day," adding, "I will post the whole story I reported in this space."
Ms. A brought out the memories of the abuse, saying, "(The contents of the article) are my memories of being abused from the age of four, when I was forced to move to Seosan, Chungnam, in 1996, to the twenty-one year old in 2013, when I escaped from that hell, and some of the memories of my brother and what my sister at church told me."
According to Mr. A, his biological father and stepmother, Mr. B, imprisoned Mr. A, who was only a child at the time, fed him filth, subjected him to physical torture, and labor exploitation.
Miss A claimed, "My stepmother made me defecate in an orange bag and then let me eat."
"They made them eat spoiled food from time to time," he said, "and if they hid spoiled food because they didn't want to eat it, they would find it and make them eat moldy food."
In addition, Mr. A confessed to the abuse, such as making him lick dog food bowls, dust on door frames, sewer strainers, and picking up and eating insects.
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▲Some of the scars left on Mr. A's body from abuse
"I was also exposed to everyday violence," said Mr. A. "(My stepmother) made me beat my father, and I had the authority who was the most loyal to the church at the time beat me often," adding, "I was beaten with shoehorns, necklaces, etc., cut my eyelashes several times with scissors, and made me stand constantly even though I couldn't open my eyes because my face was white."
"From the age of six until the lower grades of elementary school," he wrote, "I kept my hands wrapped in box tape and locked myself in a conventional toilet," and "I was often bitten and tortured when I was beaten."
He also revealed that he was subjected to labor exploitation, such as getting firewood day and night to run the church's firewood boiler, or being sent to the house of the priest to cut grass with a sickle all day.
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▲ Part of the testimony of Mr. A's brother
Among other things, Mr. A alleged, "We were three siblings, and we became siblings in the summer of 1999," and that "my father and stepmother abused my second brother to the point of death."
Mr. A, who was 7 years old at the time, said, "I have only vague memories, but when my second brother died, I was trapped in a dark, clogged wooden box, and I could only hear sounds."
Miss A said, "I beat my two brothers all day, and they said that they were starving and hungry all day, so my grandmother, who is my stepmother's mother, put some plums in the room," and "My second brother, who was very hungry, couldn't breathe properly after eating the plums, and grunted, and my first brother cried out for his life."
Mr. A said, "However, the parents were stunned by the child who was out of breath," and "In the end, the second brother couldn't survive the night and went to heaven."
But the emotional and physical abuse of these parents did not stop.
The parents continued to abuse Miss A, who was only a preschooler, against common sense, accusing her of stealing money or incest between siblings.
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▲ Attorney Shin so-kyung of the Civil Defense Children's Human Rights Commission
Miss A said, "My brother found my birth mother with difficulty and asked me to take her out of hell, so with the help of my birth mother, I was able to escape," adding, "I survived the longest of the three siblings, 17 years without dying in that hell."
Finally, Mr. A said, "Why did my brothers and I have to be so sick when I was younger," and said, "Please move public opinion so that the second brother who died can be released. The statute of limitations for deaths caused by child abuse should be abolished."
On the other hand, according to Article 34 of the Special Law on the Punishment of Crimes of Child Abuse, the statute of limitations for the crime of child abuse runs from the date on which the child who is the victim of the crime of child abuse reaches the age of majority, and under Article 249 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seven years apply to crimes punishable by imprisonment for a term of less than 10 years or imprisonment.
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