Woman Convicted For Biting Tongue Of Attacker 60 Years Ago, Gets Retrial

A South Korean woman, Choi Mal-ja, convicted nearly six decades ago for defending herself against an attempted sexual assault, will have her case reconsidered.

Choi, now 78, was only 18 when she bit off a portion of her assailant’s tongue in an effort to escape. Despite her act being one of self-defense, she was found guilty of aggravated bodily injury and received a suspended 10-month prison sentence.

As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Choi initially sought a retrial from the Busan District Court, the same court that had convicted her in the 1960s. However, her petition was denied due to an alleged lack of exculpatory evidence.

She subsequently appealed to the Busan High Court, which also rejected her plea. It was only after she escalated her case to the Supreme Court that the High Court was instructed to reassess it. The Supreme Court identified potential violations of procedural due process, specifically noting that Choi might have been unlawfully detained during the investigative period spanning 1964 and 1965.

“There are enough grounds to believe that there had been unlawful arrest and detention without warrant, as dictated by the Criminal Procedure Act,” the Busan court stated.

The original incident occurred on May 6, 1964, near Choi’s residence, when a 21-year-old man, Noh, attempted to rape her. In an effort to resist, Choi bit off 1.5 cm of his tongue and managed to escape. Despite the clear implications of self-defense, she was subjected to a more severe legal consequence than her assailant, who received a six-month prison sentence with a two-year suspension.

In a 2020 interview with The Korea Herald, Choi recalled the prosecutorial coercion she faced. “I said I did nothing wrong, and [the prosecutor] said if I didn’t comply, I would have to spend the rest of my life in jail,” she stated. Additionally, her father expended the family’s financial resources on a settlement with Noh, yet the harassment persisted. Noh even forcibly entered their home and menaced both Choi and her sister with a knife.

Years later, Choi pursued higher education and developed a deeper understanding of the systemic injustice she had endured. With the assistance of a women’s advocacy organization supporting survivors of sexual violence, she formally petitioned for a retrial. Her pursuit of justice was further galvanized by the global #MeToo movement, which shed light on the broader issues of institutionalized gender discrimination.

Choi’s case has reignited discourse on the historical treatment of sexual violence within South Korea’s legal system. The Korea Herald observed, “Though unthinkable and abhorrent today, it was not uncommon for courts of the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea to play matchmaker between rape victims and their rapists.”

Significant strides have since been made in the realm of women’s rights within South Korea, with the enactment of the 1994 Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act and the establishment of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in 2010.

These legal and institutional reforms reflect a paradigm shift in addressing sexual violence and affirming the rights of survivors.

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