14-year-old in S. Korea sets home ablaze after row over smartphone; avoids arrest
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Smoke is seen coming out of a third-floor unit of an apartment building in northern Gwangju, South Korea, on Nov 20.
PHOTO: GWANGJU BUKBU FIRE STATION
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SEOUL – The Gwangju District Court in South Korea has dismissed an arrest warrant for a 14-year-old girl accused of setting fire to her family’s apartment after her parents refused to upgrade her mobile phone, the local media reported on Nov 23.
The police in Gwangju said the court rejected the warrant after a pre-arrest hearing, citing the girl’s status as “a juvenile under 19” under the Juvenile Act.
The teenager allegedly started the fire around 10.52pm (9.52pm Singapore time) on Nov 20 by using a lighter in her third-floor bedroom in an apartment building in northern Gwangju, the police said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 20 minutes, but the fire destroyed all household goods in the unit. Seventeen residents were taken to hospitals after inhaling smoke, the authorities said.
During questioning, the girl reportedly told the police that she started the fire to retaliate against her parents for not upgrading her phone to a model that would allow her to use social media. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
