Father arrested after infant daughter dies with bruises

Police in Osan, Gyeonggi, have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering his 2-month-old daughter after he allegedly deleted home camera footage recorded on the morning she died.

Officers made an emergency arrest, which allows police to hold a suspect without a warrant, and are questioning the father, the Osan police precinct said Sunday.

Police were called to a home in Osan at about 3:47 a.m. Sunday after a report to the police that a 2-month-old child was not breathing. Paramedics took the girl to a nearby hospital, where she died during treatment.

Police found bruises and other signs of injury on the baby’s body and opened an investigation into whether a crime had been committed.

Officers also found signs that the father, who had gone to the hospital with his daughter, had deleted some of the footage from a home camera installed inside the home. After the baby was declared dead, he used his phone to remotely delete footage recorded that morning, police said.

The cause of death has not been determined. Police plan to ask the National Forensic Service to conduct an autopsy.

“We made the emergency arrest after considering the bruises found on the baby’s body at the hospital and signs that the home camera footage had been deleted, among other factors,” a police official said. “We are now questioning the couple to establish exactly what happened.”

BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]