There’s more than meets the eye.
A heartbreaking case involving a mother in her 40s who killed her 7-month-old twin daughters due to the stress of raising them alone is drawing renewed attention after her husband tearfully expressed regret during her appeal trial, admitting he once told her, “What’s so hard about raising kids?”
According to Newsis on July 22, the Gwangju High Court held the first hearing of the appeal trial for the woman, identified as Ms. A, who was previously sentenced to 8 years in prison in the first trial for murder. Ms. A was indicted for killing her twin baby daughters at around 8:30 a.m. on November 18 last year, in their apartment in Ungcheon-dong, Yeosu, South Jeolla Province.
She committed the act after her husband left for work and turned herself in to police around 12:40 p.m. the same day. The twins were found dead in separate rooms—the master bedroom and the smaller room. Investigations revealed that Ms. A had frequent arguments with her husband and was suffering from depression and extreme stress from raising the children alone, which led to her tragic actions.
Her husband attended the appeal trial as a victim representative and pleaded for leniency.
“I feel like I’m the real perpetrator, not the victim. It’s all my fault. I didn’t support her because I took her depression too lightly. I even said things like, ‘What’s so hard about raising kids? Do you know how hard it is to work outside? If that’s how you feel, leave the kids and go — I can do it all myself.’ We didn’t get along, and there were times I hit her. After everything happened, I deeply regretted my actions, reflected on myself, and apologized to her, asking for forgiveness. I still haven’t been able to pack away my daughters’ belongings. I’m asking for forgiveness from my children too, telling them everything was their father’s fault.”
In the first trial, the court stated, “The defendant committed the crime against her daughters while they were asleep and unaware. The act deserves severe condemnation and the nature of the crime is extremely grave.” However, the court considered factors such as the defendant’s extreme depression triggered by criticism from her spouse regarding financial hardship, pregnancy, childbirth, and childrearing, and sentenced her to 8 years in prison. The second hearing of the appeal trial is scheduled for August 26.
