[CARD NEWS: Opinion] We Tremble in Fear of Such Rapists
1) In December 2008, a 7-year-old girl who was on her way to school ran into a stranger. The 57-year-old man brought the girl to a nearby public toilet where he brutally raped and tortured her until she was unconscious. The girl, alias Na-young, survived after eight hours of surgery, but lost most of her lower colon and genital organs. The savagery of the crime shocked the nation when the case came to light.
2) What whipped up the nation into a frenzy even more was the light penalty given to the criminal, Cho Du-sun. Although prosecutors sought a life sentence, the Supreme Court sentenced him to 12 years. The reason for reducing his penalty was that Cho was drunk, and thus was “weaker mentally and physically.”
3) Not only did sympathy for Na-young grow, but also public fear over random assaults spread throughout the nation in the wake of the case. No one felt safe from the possibility of being a victim of a savage crime.
4) The detective who handled the case recalls Cho was a “bald-faced liar.” Cho, who persistently denied his crime, saying “he can’t remember it at all,” will get out of prison three years from now.
5) Here’s another gruesome story of sexual assault that took place in May 2016 in Sinan County, South Jeolla. A female elementary school teacher was raped by three of her neighbors.
The suspects were all fathers, and the children of two of them were attending the school where the victim worked.
6) While the teacher was having dinner in a restaurant that was run by one of the suspects, she was invited to join the group’s table where they offered her drinks. After the teacher became intoxicated, the three locals told her that they would give her a lift to her home, but instead went to the building of an elementary school and raped her in sequence.
7) The three suspects were sentenced to 10, 8, and 7 years of imprisonment. Public outrage and condemnation exploded over the light penalties.
8) If such crimes occurred in the United States, however, it would be a different story.
In the U.S., a criminal who raped a 7-year-old girl was sentenced to 825 years in prison. Another criminal of the same kind is now in jail for 11,250 years.
9) The merciless rulings of the Western country throw pose questions to Koreans.
“Why does our nation does not take into account the victims’ trauma?
Why they do not consider the fear the public have to endure?”
10) Some people say that increasing prison terms has no relation to reducing the crime rate.
11) However, no one can guarantee that criminals will not commit brutal crimes again when they are released.
In addition, nothing can cure the victims’ wounds. Nothing can erase their painful memories.
12) People feel appalled just imagining such criminals living among us.
People can no longer easily trust their close neighbors.
People want the criminals to count the cost of their horrendous deeds.
13) What can the country do to wipe away the victims’ tears?
How much punishment is enough?
Directed by Lee Jeong-bong
Constructed by Kim Min-pyo
Designed by Bae Seok-yeong
Translated by Son Min-young
Edited by James Constant
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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