The parents of an 8-year-old girl in South Korea were worried when she didn’t return home from an after-school art class. They contacted authorities, never expecting what they’d find. Police began searching for the child and ultimately found her at a school in Daejeon, about 99 miles from Seoul.
The child appeared to have been attacked. Shockingly, law enforcement officials believe her teacher stabbed the child and then turned the knife on herself.
According to Yonhap News Agency, police found the child unconscious and rushed her to a hospital for treatment. Sadly, she succumbed to her wounds a short time later.
Her teacher reportedly suffered stab wounds to the neck and arm but remained conscious. Police interviewed the teacher, who allegedly admitted to stabbing the child and inflicting the injuries on herself.
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During the investigation, per Yonhap, police reportedly uncovered that the teacher took a leave of absence because of depression. She returned to work at the school late last year.
Emergency responders took her to a hospital for treatment of her stab wounds. Yonhap reported that police will resume the investigation after the woman heals.
According to Korean law, if a court convicts the teacher of murder, she could face life in prison or potentially the death penalty.
Mental health services are not widely available in South Korea, according to a study from the National Library of Medicine. “These services are in short supply for the population, despite the relatively high number of psychiatrists. Thanks to an active community mental health movement in the public and private sectors of psychiatry and the long-term care plan being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, better care provision is expected,” the study reported.
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As the study explained, “Although services have actively been trying to move away from institutionalisation to community-based care, the inadequate number of fully qualified community mental health professionals, prejudice towards mental illnesses among the general population and less active participation of board-certified psychiatrists make this move difficult.”
