The historical moment when Grandma Choi Mal-ja, who was convicted of serious injury charges while resisting sexual violence in 1964, received an acquittal after 61 years will be revealed through a broadcast.
SBS ‘The Story That Follows the Tail’ (Episode 193), airing on the 18th, covers the retrial process of Grandma Choi Mal-ja. The program revealed that, among all broadcasting stations, it uniquely accompanied her trial process and recorded the entire process up to the verdict of acquittal announced on the 10th.
The incident began in a village in Gyeongnam in 1964. At the time, 18-year-old Grandma Choi Mal-ja resisted a youth’s attempted rape by biting his tongue. However, the perpetrator countersued for serious injury, and Grandma Choi Mal-ja was sentenced to ten months in prison with a two-year probation.
The court ruling at the time included content that stated, “It could have contributed to arousing the impulse to kiss.” During the trial, the judge reportedly asked Grandma Choi Mal-ja, “Have you considered marrying the young man who attempted the assault?”, “Was there not an initial affection?”
Grandma Choi Mal-ja applied for a retrial 56 years later, but the first retrial was dismissed. After repeated appeals, this year, the prosecution filed for her acquittal 61 years after the incident. On September 10th, with the final acquittal confirmed, the case, which did not initially recognize self-defense, was recognized as self-defense 61 years later.
Immediately after the verdict, Grandma Choi Mal-ja shouted, “I overcame it,” according to the program. In the broadcast, guests included Red Velvet’s Wendy, actor Kim Nam-hee, and announcer Park Sun-young, who listened to the journey of Grandma Choi Mal-ja. Wendy reportedly shed tears, saying, “I was choked up,” upon hearing her story.
‘The Story That Follows the Tail’ is a program where three storytellers deliver stories one-on-one to their storytelling friends and is broadcast every Thursday at 10:20 PM on SBS.
