A couple was arrested Wednesday for allegedly beating a 30-month-old girl to death for throwing a tantrum, police said.

The 28-year-old husband and 34-year-old wife are suspected of hitting their daughter repeatedly to the face, arms and others at their home in Ulsan on Tuesday afternoon.

The woman reportedly said she started hitting the toddler when she refused to eat and threw a tantrum. The woman had drunk one bottle of soju, and when the husband returned home from work, they drank three or four more bottles together, the police said, adding that both appear to have been intoxicated.

The husband was also arrested for not intervening and for hitting the girl on the head after she was assaulted by her mother.

The woman called the emergency dispatch center after her daughter stopped breathing. The girl died 40 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Police said the woman seems to have beaten the child regularly.

Police plan to request an autopsy to determine the cause of the girl’s death and seek a formal arrest warrant for the woman, Jeong said.

More than 10,000 cases of child abuse were reported last year, up 48 percent from a year earlier, according to government data.

A series of high-profile child abuse incidents has raised awareness about the issue and toughened related laws.

In October, a 41-year-old woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison for beating her 8-year-old stepdaughter to death in Ulsan.

Earlier in 2014, a 36-year-old woman in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province, was imprisoned for 10 years after murdering her 8-year-old stepdaughter.

From news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)