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| The door of an apartment in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, remains sealed by police tape on Feb. 8 after a child who lived there died apparently from abuse by his parents. Yonhap |
Police said Thursday they requested arrest warrants for a stepmother and a father on charges of child abuse homicide and habitual child abuse, respectively, in connection with the recent death of their 12-year-old son.
The child, a fifth grader, died at a hospital Tuesday after being found unconscious with what appeared to be bruises all over his body at their home in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul.
The 43-year-old stepmother and her 40-year-old husband, the biological father of the deceased child, were apprehended on the same day on charges of aggravated child abuse resulting in the death of a minor.
The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said it has changed the father's charge to habitual child abuse before applying for pretrial arrest warrants for the couple.
The agency said it has applied the charge of child abuse homicide only to the stepmother, because the causal relationship between the father's alleged abuse and the child's death has yet to be made clear.
The stepmother is accused of having habitually beaten and abused the child.
The couple initially denied their child abuse charges, arguing that the wounds found on the child's body were self-inflicted.
The couple reportedly married a few years ago and have two daughters aged 3 and 4, respectively, in addition to the deceased child. (Yonhap)
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