A CCTV footage of one stepmother, who had locked a boy inside a suitcase as punishment, is seen fiddling with her phone when the 9-year-old son is put on a stretcher and is being taken to hospital is going viral. The mother has been arrested on charges of child abuse.
However, the child breathed his last in the Soonchunhyang University Hospital at Cheonan, Chungnam in South Korea. Cops are contemplating on making changes to the charges against the mother following the death of the child.
The video shows that the mother is looking at her phone as the paramedics put the child on stretcher and shift him into an ambulance. The father is also being questioned to see if he was an accomplice in the case. The couple's two children are also being questioned in the case.
The stepmother who was arrested on June 5 is said to have confessed to her crimes. Currently, she is likely to face charges of attempt to murder along with child abuse.
What is The Suitcase Death Case?
The boy was punished by his 43-year-old stepmother who made him squeeze inside a suitcase for lying about breaking a video game system. The CCTV footage showed that the woman left the house and went out for three hours while the stepson was locked inside the suitcase. After returning, she is said to have put him inside a smaller suitcase. The boy became unconscious after being inside the suitcase for seven hours.
The woman then called the emergency services. The 119 paramedics team reportedly said that the boy had suffered a cardiac arrest and that they performed CPR on him before shifting him to the hospital. He was immediately put on ventilator. But he failed to respond to the treatment and died on June 4 at 6.30 pm in the hospital. It is said that the woman's two children were inside the house when the victim was locked inside the suitcase.
Previous Charges on Couple?
This was not the first time the woman had punished the boy severely. The couple was called to the police station on May 5 after the boy was beaten up by stepmother for allegedly stealing money. The neighbors had complained to the security after hearing the boy scream.
The police was informed and during the probe, stepmother confessed to have abused the boy. Both father and stepmother had agreed to change their ways of disciplining children in front of the police. The cops were supposed to come and check on the situation after a month. But even before the inspection in connection with the previous case, the boy was stuffed inside the suitcase that eventually led to his death.
