Victim`s brother threatens self-immolation if killer given life sentence

"I will burn myself to death in front of the court if the killer of a woman on the Jeju Olle Trail is also sentenced to life in prison as (convicted rapist and murderer) Oh Won-chun was."

The younger brother of the 40-year-old woman murdered on the trail in July this year wrote this on his blog Saturday under the title, "I will burn myself to death in front of the court."

Oh, who killed a young woman in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, had his punishment recently reduced to life imprisonment. The brother of the Olle victim feared the same punishment for the killer of his sister. The victim was strangled to death by the assailant after resisting his sexual advances, and he cut her wrist after killing her.

The brother said, "I deeply understand how the family of Oh`s victim is suffering. My family underwent psychotherapy and is also under huge stress. I also quit my business."

"Would you have given a life sentence as well to the murderer of your relative? Did you treat this case as a daily routine work thinking it`s a matter for other people? How horrible can a crime get for you to give the death penalty?"

peneye09@donga.com