A woman who bit off a rapist’s tongue has been acquitted of her conviction 61 years ago.
On a May evening in 1964, Choi Mal-ja, 18, was sexually assaulted by a 21-year-old stranger, known only as Roh.
He pinned her to the ground and stuck his tongue into her mouth while blocking her nose.
During the incident, in Gimhae, a city in South Korea, Choi bit 1.5cm off of the man’s tongue and escaped.
Seventeen days later, Roh broke into Choi’s home and threatened to stab her father before suing her on charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Choi was convicted of inflicting bodily harm and jailed for 10 months. Her attacker, known only as Roh, was given a six-month sentence (suspended for two years) for trespassing and intimidation.
Now, a court has overturned the ruling in a retrial nearly 60 years.
Choi, now 79, shouted, ‘I, Choi Mal-ja, am finally innocent!’ on Wednesday after a judge in the city of Busan ruled she acted in self-defence.
Choi’s supporters held up placards reading ‘Choi Mal-ja did it!’ and ‘Choi Mal-ja succeeded’ outside the district court.
During a retrial in July, Choi was told that her actions were a proportionate response to ‘an unjust infringement on her bodily integrity and sexual self-determination’.
She had been encouraged on several occasions to drop her case, and was told pursuing it would be like ‘hitting a rock with eggs’, the Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
But the sexual violence survivor started fighting for her case to be reevaluated in 2018, in the wake of the #MeToo campaign.
She said: ‘For the victims who shared the same fate as mine, I wanted to be a source of hope for them.’
Prosecutors apologised for mistreating Choi, causing ‘her immeasurable pain and suffering,’ and called her innocent.
In her original trial, Choi’s testimony was distrusted and she was questioned whether she had any affection for her attacker, with a judge even suggesting she should marry him.
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