Daughter leaves elderly mother at police station

An 80-year-old woman suffering from dementia was abandoned by her daughter at a police station in Daegu.

According to the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday, a 57-year-old woman visited a police station in Suseong District, Daegu, with her 80-year-old mother at around 1:30 a.m. last Thursday. The woman told the police officers that she came to “ask for advice regarding her mother’s problem.”

About 10 minutes after the two women started to talk with police officers, the daughter said she wanted to “step outside for a second to get some fresh air.” She never returned.

The police also said the elderly woman was not able to answer any questions asked by the police officers because of her dementia.

After finding the phone number of one of the elderly woman’s acquaintances in her cell phone and contacting the man, they discovered that she has two daughters and a son.

The police then visited the house at which her eldest daughter is believed to live, but no one was at home.

After spending one night at a police station in Daegu, the woman was transported to a shelter for the elderly in North Gyeongsang.

Officials from the Korea Elder Protection Agency visited the police station and found that the elderly woman’s registered address is in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang. The police say they still haven’t been able to reach the 57-year-old daughter.

According to the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, they can’t begin their investigation as there is no clear evidence yet to determine whether the daughter intentionally abandoned her mother.

“Although we were able to find out personal information about the daughter, we haven’t been able to reach her,” an official from the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency said.

“We are working hard to further the investigation. It is likely to take a long time because of the elderly woman’s dementia and her registered address is in North Gyeongsang, not Daegu.”

According to data collected by the National Police Agency and provided by Democratic Party lawmaker Rep. Keum Tae-sup of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee last year, a total of 79 elderly people who were aged 60 or above had been abandoned by their children between 2013 and 2018.

The number was only nine and 11 in 2013 and 2014 but increased dramatically and reached 23 in 2018.

BY CHEA SARAH, KIM JUNG-SEOK [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]