Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| A woman who attacked a man who allegedly raped her may be indicted on assault charges. gettyimagesbank |
By Jung Min-ho
A woman is being investigated for allegedly wounding a man with a knife after she realized that he "raped" her while she slept.
The Gwangju Seobu Police Station said Wednesday that it is investigating whether her attack was necessary. The man, 36, has also been questioned for the alleged crime.
According to police, the two drank at his place in western Gwangju on Feb. 15. But after she fell asleep, he allegedly raped her, which woke her up. In anger, she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and attacked him. Police said his injuries are minor.
Police did not release her immediately because they thought her attack, which did not occur during his alleged rape attempt, may not be covered by Korea's self-defense law, which is notorious for its lack of flexibility for defenders.
Under the law, people are allowed to use force to "prevent unjust infringement of one's or another person's legal interest," as long as there are reasonable grounds for that act and the degree of force does not go beyond "reasonable bounds." But the law, as precedents and police guidelines show, deems using weapons and inflicting injuries on the attacker that would take more than three weeks to recover from unreasonable ― a standard many believe is almost impossible to meet in reality.
