A South Korean woman convicted of biting off part of a man's tongue during a sexual assault has been acquitted after six decades, after a court reconsidered the verdict.
Her name is Choi Mal-ja and she was only 18 years old at the time.
For causing grievous bodily harm, she was sentenced to ten months in prison, while the attacker, then 21 years old, received a lighter sentence of six months.
After her years-long fight, a new trial began in July in Busan, a city in the south of the country.
At the first hearing, prosecutors apologized to Choi and, in a very rare case, asked the court to overturn the verdict.
"This case should not have gone unanswered."
"I wanted to stand up for all the victims who went through the same thing I did," Choi said after the acquittal.
The attack, she says, changed her life forever, because they "turned her from a victim into an accused."
“People warned me that my fight was futile, but I couldn’t stay silent,” says 78-year-old Choi.
She thanked everyone who supported her, but also criticized those in power who "abuse power, trample on the weak, and twist the law."
Her case has been cited in South Korean law textbooks for years as an example of the judiciary's failure to recognize self-defense in cases of sexual violence.
According to court records, the attacker knocked Choi to the ground in the southern town of Gimhae.
She only managed to free herself after biting off about 1,5 centimeters of his tongue.
The man had been seeking compensation for the injury for years, which is why, according to media reports, he once broke into her home with a knife in his hands.
In one of the most controversial cases of sexual violence in South Korea, he was given a suspended sentence of six months - for breaking into her home and making threats.
He was never charged with attempted rape.
Choi, however, received a much longer sentence - ten months suspended, with six months of prior detention - because the court found that she had exceeded the "reasonable limits of self-defense."
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Inspired by global #MeToo With the women's rights movement, Choi contacted activist groups in 2018 and spent two years gathering evidence to file a request for a retrial.
The path to justice was not easy, the courts repeatedly rejected her request on the grounds that there was not enough evidence that she had acted in self-defense.
Still, Choi did not give up, not wanting, as she says, other victims to go through the same pain and injustice.
"They shouldn't have to carry this burden alone," she previously told the Korea Herald.
The South Korean Supreme Court approved the reopening of the proceedings in December 2024.
And so on September 10, Choi and her comrades celebrated their victory outside the courthouse.
Some carried banners with the words "Choi Mal-ja succeeded!"And"Choi Mal-ja won!".
Organization Korea Women's Hotline, who supported Choi during the campaign, believes this ruling will open the door to fairer treatment for victims of sexual violence.
"From now on, women's actions in self-defense will be increasingly recognized as legitimate, which means fewer unjust judgments against women," says Son Ran-hee, president of an organization that protects women's rights.
"If nothing else, this verdict sends a message to all victims - even if the path is painful and the injustice great, your voice matters."
"Speak up," she added to the BBC.
At least two other cases have been recorded in South Korea in which women bit off their attackers' tongues - one in 1988 in Andong and the other in 2020 in Busan.
In both cases, the court recognized their actions as justified self-defense.
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