Pretty much the saddest thing ever

[RedRalph]

From BBC

A South Korean couple who were addicted to the internet let their three-month-old baby starve to death while raising a virtual daughter online, police said.

The pair fed their own premature baby just once a day in between 12-hour stretches at an internet cafe, the official Yonhap news agency reported.

Police officer Chung Jin-won told Yonhap they "lost their will to live a normal life" after losing their jobs.

He said they "indulged themselves online" to escape from reality.

The 41-year-old father and his 25-year-old wife were arrested in the city of Suweon, south of Seoul, earlier this week, five months after they reported the death of their baby.

An autopsy showed her death was caused by a long period of malnutrition.

The couple had become obsessed with nurturing a virtual girl called Anima in the popular role-playing game Prius Online, police said on Friday.

The game enables players to interact with Anima and as they do so, help her to recover her lost memory and develop emotions.

As someone who has a baby and is mildly addicted to the net, I can happily say I would do anything at all to avoid my son starving to death... I hope there's an especiallly hellish corner of prison reserved for them. How could this happen?

 

[Camikaze]

Certainly sad. I would hope that the internet cafe that they apparently had 12 hour stretches in continuously would face some sort of prosecution for criminal negligence. If that is possible to bring against them.

But saying that 'I hope there's an especially hellish corner of prison reserved for them' seems a tad misdirected, given that it would appear that these people had some sort of mental trouble. They need help. Not the worst punishment the state can give them.

 

[RedRalph]

Certainly sad. I would hope that the internet cafe that they apparently had 12 hour stretches in continuously would face some sort of prosecution for criminal negligence. If that is possible to bring against them.

But saying that 'I hope there's an especially hellish corner of prison reserved for them' seems a tad misdirected, given that it would appear that these people had some sort of mental trouble. They need help. Not the worst punishment the state can give them.

I don't think so. They clearly knew the kid needed to be fed, they just prioritised their net usage so they could give it what they imagined to be the bare minimum... the kid had to be absolutely bawling away, it would have been extremely obvious something was wrong, and no matter how crazy they were, they knew it, but decided their online kid was more important.

 

[Camikaze]

I refuse to believe that people can be that callous. They may have heard their baby crying, but they may not have related that to a physical need for nutrition. It would seem that they were so encapsulated in their virtual bubble that they lost touch with reality and the realistic needs of their baby. Clearly logic is not something that was apparent to them. This, to me, seems like an inability to distinguish between their priorities. I find it extremely hard to believe that they could've allowed this to happen had they known, or understand, the full implications of their actions.

 

[ArneHD]

The article did state that they "lost their will to live a normal life" after loosing their jobs. That probably had something to do with it. They were simply unable to face reality.

 

[Tee Kay]

The article did state that they "lost their will to live a normal life" after loosing their jobs. That probably had something to do with it. They were simply unable to face reality.

The internet is just a scapegoat. This is the real reason.

 

[bhsup]

Siding with Red on this one. I've not had the privilege of fatherhood, but if my devotion to my nephews and nieces is any indicator, I cannot comprehend ever allow one's child to starve to death. This was uncaring negligence. They didn't care about life anymore and let their baby go down with them.

 

[Tee Kay]

Siding with Red on this one.

Is anyone not siding with RRW?

 

[bhsup]

Well it's just kind of uncommon for me...

 

[Mise]

Seems to me like they need to be put in a psychiatric ward, and shouldn't be allowed children again, unless clear evidence of reform, and with regular child services visits. Punish, rehabilitate, prevent it happening again.

 

[CurtSibling]

At the very least, they could have sold the spawn and made some cash.

 

[Virote_Considon]

They should get done for manslaughter at the very least. Life imprisonment at the very least would be a reasonable punishment.

 

[wicshade]

I don't see any the reason to put them in jail, however they should both be sterilized. It is unfortunate that they neglected their child, but I don't believe they had any intention to do harm to the child. They are simply unfit parents, and they should not be allowed to care for other people. If they are not allowed to procreate then they will never be able to do this again.

 

[RedRalph]

I don't see any the reason to put them in jail, however they should both be sterilized. It is unfortunate that they neglected their child, but I don't believe they had any intention to do harm to the child. They are simply unfit parents, and they should not be allowed to care for other people. If they are not allowed to procreate then they will never be able to do this again.

You "don't see any reason to put them in jail"? How about the fact that they starved a baby to death?

 

[BCLG100]

What i found most weird/odd/sickening was that they left their child to die to raise a virtual child.

 

[galdre]

we should ban the internet!! see the harm it has caused!!!

 

[Yeekim]

Jesus...

I propose following rehabilitation/punishment:
Put them into cell with internet connection. Should they use it, stop feeding them and continue only after 72 hours has passed since the time they turned off the computer.
Maybe that will help them get their priorities straight.

 

[wicshade]

You "don't see any reason to put them in jail"? How about the fact that they starved a baby to death?

The sovereign is created/empowered to protect our rights. In this case it is a person's right to life, the parents did not directly/intentionly harm the child they only failed him as parents (failure being that the baby can not flourish if he is dead).

The entire purpose of prison is to keep people from harming others. The only thing that the sovereign should do is take away this couples capacity to care for children. In this case they should both be sterilized, and be forbidden to work in any care giving profession. To me imprisonment would be cruel and unusual punishment, when in truth I don't think they deserve punishment for being bad parents, unless their intentions were to bring bodily harm to the child.

 

[RedRalph]

The sovereign is created/empowered to protect our rights. In this case it is a person's right to life, the parents did not directly/intentionly harm the child they only failed him as parents (failure being that the baby can not flourish if he is dead).

Have you ever heard of something called 'child neglect'?

The entire purpose of prison is to keep people from harming others.

No it isn't.

The only thing that the sovereign should do is take away this couples capacity to care for children. In this case they should both be sterilized, and be forbidden to work in any care giving profession. To me imprisonment would be cruel and unusual punishment, when in truth I don't think they deserve punishment for being bad parents, unless their intentions were to bring bodily harm to the child.

OK, well feel free to let me know how you feel if you ever have a child and somone who is in charge of it neglects it to death. I somehow doubt your bizarre liberal quasi-ideology will come into play.

Just to be clear, you are indeed saying that starving a child to death is not a crime which deserves a prison sentance?

 

[civ_king]

Permaban teh intrwebz!

This is pathetic, leaving their daughter to die while raising a virtual one