SEOUL: A Chinese man in his 40s who beat his teenage daughter to death with a blunt object after an argument was sentenced to a heavier prison term by an appellate court.
The Suwon High Court on Thursday (July 9) overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced the man to 18 years in prison and handed down a 22-year sentence on charges of child abuse resulting in murder.
The court also ordered him barred from working at child-related institutions for seven years.
The appellate court said the killing could not be justified under any circumstances, saying the 14-year-old victim had her life taken by the person responsible for protecting her in what should have been the safest place, her home.
The court said the method of the crime was “extremely cruel,” noting that the victim tried to protect herself by covering her head but was struck on the back of the head more than 25 times until the handle of a metal hammer broke.
The judges rejected the lower court’s view that the crime was partly impulsive, saying that even if the killing had not been planned, the brutality of the attack did not lessen the seriousness of the offense.
They also said any need to discipline the child could not be considered a mitigating factor, as the defendant should have used appropriate means such as dialogue and persuasion.
The court declined to give significant weight to the defendant’s surrender after the crime, saying it came only after the victim had already died and the irreversible result had occurred.
The man was indicted in custody on charges of killing his daughter at their home in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct 19.
Investigators found that the father had become enraged during an argument with the girl, who had lived apart from him for about 10 years before moving in with him three years earlier.
The argument reportedly involved the daughter trying to pick up and hold her 3-year-old sibling despite her parents’ objections. - The Korea Herald/ANN
