Trio on trial for death of teen with bipolar disorder who was abused in South Korean church

A high-school girl who recently died at a church in South Korea had been subjected by church members to severe abuse, including sleep deprivation and physical labour, a bill of indictment provided by the prosecution showed.

Representative Yoo Sang-bum of the ruling People Power Party on July 24 revealed the contents of the document he received from the prosecutors, which showed details of their investigation into the girl’s death on May 15.

Three members of the Incheon church are on trial for child abuse resulting in death, with the victim’s mother also indicted for negligence of a child. The victim had been living at the church during the three months before her death.

The girl had bipolar disorder, but the mother consulted the church and decided to entrust her daughter to the choir team.

Two members of the choir – one of whom was an acquaintance of the mother – directly abused the girl and reported to the choir leader, who told them to “break her will if she makes a ruckus or does not follow the scripture”.

The victim was forced to copy Bible verses when she had not slept for five days, and was instructed to climb up and down the stairs of the church building for an hour.

The suspects ignored the victim’s pleas to be sent to a mental institution and kept her in the church, restraining her when she showed symptoms of her illness.

When police officers found the girl after her death, her hands were bound and her body was covered in bruises.

The choir leader is believed to have consented to the brutality, as after receiving the reports from the two choir members, she instructed them: “Don’t relax and don’t back down” and “you should chastise her severely”.

The choir leader did not provide any medical care even after learning that the victim had lost control of her bladder and bowels on May 4, and had not been able to directly consume food since May 6.

Instead, the abusers ran online searches using the terms “weak spots in the body”, “restraints used by hospitals during seizures” and “lashes at mental institutes”, and purchased restraints designed for patients with severe dementia.

The woman believed to be responsible for most of the abuse has denied the charges, while the other suspects deny criminal intent.

The next court hearing for the three will be held at the Incheon District Court on Aug 12. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK