Choi Mal-Ja was convicted of biting his sexual attacker

Seoul -A court of South Korea reopened a case of decades on Wednesday after the country’s #MeToo movement inspired a woman to challenge her sentence for defending himself against sexual violence 61 years ago.

Choi Mal-Ja was 19 when she was attacked by a 21-year-old man in the southern city of Gimhae in 1964. She immobilized her to the ground and forced her tongue to her mouth, according to judicial records. Choi managed to free himself by biting approximately half in the tongue.

In one of the most controversial decisions of South Korea on sexual violence, the aggressor received only six months in prison, suspended for two years, for transfer and intimidation, but did not try to violate.

But Choi was convicted of causing serious bodily damage and delivered a 10 -month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The court said that at the time its action had “exceeded the reasonable limits of legally permissible self -defense.”

Choi’s case won a renewed impulse decades later after #Metoo Movement, which took off worldwide in 2017 and inspired her to seek justice. In South Korea, Mass women’s rights protests led to victories on issues ranging from access to abortion to the toughest sanctions for Spycam crimesand a CONTINGO for the K-Pop International Music Industry.

Choi requested a new trial in 2020, but the lower courts initially rejected their request. After years of campaign and an appeal, the Superior Court of South Korea finally ordered a new trial in 2024.

“For 61 years, the State made me live as a criminal,” Choi told journalists outside the Busan district court before Wednesday’s trial hearing.

She said she hoped that future generations could “live in a world free of sexual violence where they can enjoy human rights and a happy life.”

Choi Sun-Hye, executive director of the Center for Advice of the Direct Line of Women of Korea, who supported his case, told News that his decision was also destined to “become a source of strength for other victims of sexual violence and correct past errors.”

At the trial hearing on Wednesday, the Prosecutor’s Office asked the Court to clarify it from the previous sentence, Busan District Court said to News.

The verdict is expected in September of this year.

• Rape
• Sexual violence
• South Korea
• Assault
• #Movimiento MetoO
• Sexual aggression
• Asia