The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the appellate ruling on a woman in her 30s charged with the murder of her daughter due to neglect, highlighting the necessity of strict punishment.

The top court upheld the conviction on the 31-year-old woman surnamed Kim and reaffirmed her sentence of nine years in prison.

The defendant was charged with fatal child abuse, specifically leaving her 2-year-old daughter by herself at home in order to go on a vacation with her boyfriend on March 29. 

According to the police, Kim had left her child alone over nine occasions in between March 2016 to April 2017. They confirmed that Kim had left the house for a day to four days, depending on the length of her trip.

Kim‘s daughter was found dead due to malnutrition. The defendant admitted that she left the house on April 30 last year and found her child dead upon returning home the next day.

The 25-month-old child reportedly showed signs of severe malnutrition with stunted physical development at the time her death.

Police also discovered that the single mother had not filed for a birth certificate when she gave birth to her daughter in March 2015.

The court had initially sentenced Kim to serve a six-year prison term, but the appellate court increased the term, citing the need to prevent further cases of fatal child abuse.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)