Woman sentenced for stabbing mother-in-law in heated argument with husband

A woman in her 20s was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to murder her mother-in-law during an argument with her husband.

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A woman in her 20s was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to murder her mother-in-law during an argument with her husband.

The Busan District Court said on Tuesday that it handed down the sentence to the defendant, who was indicted on charges of attempted parricide.

The woman attempted to kill her mother-in-law on April 25 at around 10:25 p.m. at their home in Yeongdo District, Busan, according to the court. She allegedly strangled the mother-in-law, who is in her 60s, and stabbed her multiple times with a kitchen knife.

The defendant was living with her husband and mother-in-law at the time.

Investigators said the woman became enraged during an argument over financial issues with her husband and decided to “stab and kill someone.” The attack was reportedly triggered when her mother-in-law commented, “A woman shouldn’t raise her voice like that,” during the dispute.

The court found that the woman had previously been convicted in October 2020 of a similar violent crime and was sentenced to four years in prison for aggravated assault. She was released on July 21, 2024, less than a year before committing the current offense.

“The defendant committed the act with clear intent to kill, making the crime extremely grave,” the court said. “The victim suffered significant physical and psychological trauma and has requested a heavy punishment.

“The defendant has a prior conviction for a similar offense and committed this crime during the repeat offense period. However, we took into account that the act was impulsive, that it remained an attempted crime and that the defendant turned herself in shortly afterward.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY JUNG SI-NAE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]