An 81-year-old woman who splashed water on a 65-year-old man was found guilty of assault Friday by Seoul Eastern District Court.

She was given a suspended sentence of 300,000 won ($254) fine.

The woman, identified by her surname Lee, pleaded that her action was in self-defense against the trespassing man, identified as Kim, who refused to leave when asked. 

Kim had come to demand that Lee pay back her daughter’s debt.

To drive him out, Lee splashed him with a bucketful of water and was sued for her action.

The judge who presided over the case said Lee’s actions had gone over the boundary of passive defense to that of an active attack.

According to the current law, exerting any form of force, physical or nonphysical, can be considered as violence.

The court said, “Here, there need not have been any physical contact. Contrary to popular belief, many actions can be considered criminal.”

For instance, screaming into a person’s ear can be punishable as violence, too.

In a similar case, a man who had spritzed a bypassing woman with coffee had also been indicted for assault.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)