Rape victim`s husband posts moving thoughts about her

“To those who fear the possibility of our marital or family problem after the rape (of my wife), I promise that I will continue loving my wife to the end. Though we were too poor to hold a wedding, we will work harder to keep this marriage.”

The husband of a 20-something rape victim has put up moving posts on the Internet after his wife was raped in their home Aug. 12.

On that fateful day, his wife, who was eight months pregnant, was taking a nap with their 3-year-old son. A habitual sex offender, 31, with six prior convictions for rape lived just 50 meters from her home. When he attacked her, she begged for mercy for the sake of her unborn baby but the rapist ignored her pleas.

In his writings, her husband said he was very sorry for not having been able to protect her. He also thanked his wife for enduring unbearable shame to protect their unborn baby and promised to keep loving her no matter what.

The husband put up four posts from Aug. 16 to Wednesday, with one piece saying, “We began living together four years ago in a semi-basement apartment and bore a child. We dreamed of moving out of that home and I worked hard, even doing part-time work Sundays.”

“We were too poor to hold a wedding ceremony, so I told my wife we could do that when we had enough money,” he added. “But my wife told me to have a second child. I cannot thank my wife enough for living with a poor man like me. It’s hard to understand how a nice woman like my wife had to suffer this tragedy...I feel so sorry for what I am because I want to do more for my wife.”

“My wife told me that she couldn’t even scream at her attacker so as not to wake up our son sleeping next to her. I cannot imagine how frightening it was and how scared she must have been. I am so sorry to her.”

“Our 3-year-old son has grown obsessed with me. He has began asking me to lie down with him since the incident. He cries hard if none of us are around when he wakes up. It breaks my heart watching my child undergoing something like this since the incident.”

His wife had symptoms of premature birth and went to her parents’ house to treat them. The fetus was found healthy, however.

Her husband explained why he decided to post his story, saying, “I heard the sentence for the culprit will be just four or five years in prison. I hope that laws will be amended to prevent another victim of sex crimes like my wife.”

To those who wanted to help his family financially, he said, “If I post my bank account number here, our family can get by. But I fear that such help will make me lazy. The situation is difficult and challenging for our family, but this is what I have to deal with.”

His posts have attracted more than 300,000 hits as of Thursday. Most comments expressed wishes of comfort for him and his wife or demands of harsher punishment for sex offenders and state compensation for the victim.

kchwang@donga.com