A South Korean woman has been acquitted of biting off part of a man’s tongue during an alleged sexual assault 61 years ago. Aged 19 in 1964, Choi Mal-ja was attacked by a 21-year-old man in the southern town of Gimhae.
He reportedly pinned her to the ground and repeatedly tried to force his tongue into her mouth. According to court records, the assailant even blocked her nose to stop her from breathing and to force her to open her mouth. Choi managed to escape after biting off 1.5cm of her attacker’s tongue.
In a trial following his arrest in 1965, her assailant was convicted of trespassing and intimidation, but not of attempted rape. He was subsequently given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, The Guardian reports.
However, Choi – now 79 – was convicted for causing grievous bodily harm and handed a 10-month prison sentence, also suspended for two years. In the contentious court ruling, she was adjudged to have “exceeded the reasonable bounds of legally permissible self-defence”.
The 79-year-old successfully overturned her original conviction on Wednesday following an appeal heard at the Busan district court. Contrary to the original verdict, the court ruled that her actions at the time constituted “justifiable self-defence” under South Korean law.
In a statement, the court wrote her response to the attack was “deemed an attempt to escape an unjust infringement on her bodily integrity and sexual self-determination”.
Her supporters handed her bouquets of flowers as she left court smiling. Women’s rights activists waved a placard that said: “Choi Mal-ja did it!”
Speaking to reporters following her acquittal, Choi said: “Sixty-one years ago, in a situation where I could understand nothing, the victim became the perpetrator and my fate was sealed as a criminal. For the victims who shared the same fate as mine, I wanted to be a source of hope for them.”
Choi was inspired to seek justice by the #MeToo movement that took off in 2017. She filed for a retrial in 2020, but lower courts initially rejected her petition.
After years of campaigning and an appeal, South Korea’s highest court finally ordered the case to be reheard in 2024. At its first hearing, prosecutors apologised to Choi and asked the court to overturn her conviction.
Her lawyers said they plan to seek compensation from the state for the damages she suffered as a result of her original conviction.
