A woman in her 30s has been arrested on suspicion of repeatedly striking her 8-month-old son in the head with a TV remote control, causing his death, police said.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said Thursday it had detained the woman, identified only as A, on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes.
A is accused of assaulting her son, identified as B, at their home in Siheung around April 10, repeatedly hitting him in the head with a TV remote, police said.
After the assault, A and her husband took the baby to a hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, where medical staff found severe head injuries, including a skull fracture, and determined he needed to be hospitalized, according to police.
Police said A did not admit the child and instead took him home. She later found him unconscious at the house.
A returned to the same Bucheon hospital on the afternoon of April 13, and the child died several hours later on the morning of April 14, police said.
Investigators began probing the circumstances of the death and reviewed footage from a home camera, which they said showed A and her husband repeatedly leaving the baby alone for hours at a time.
A initially told police the child was injured after she dropped him while bathing him, but later admitted to the assault after questioning, police said.
Police arrested A based on her statement. The National Forensic Service provided a preliminary verbal autopsy finding that the child was believed to have died from head injuries, police said.
A was quoted as telling investigators she acted because the baby would not sleep and was fussy.
Police said they are also questioning the child’s father as a witness to determine whether he neglected the child or aided the abuse. They said they plan to seek an arrest warrant for A later Thursday, citing the seriousness of the case.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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