Five Teenagers Sentenced To Jail For Murdering Friend And Discarding Body

A 15-year-old boy indicted on charges of beating a girl to death was sentenced to up to seven years in jail while four others were also given jail terms for their involvement in the crime, a Seoul court said Friday. The boy, his identity withheld except for his last name, Jeong, and three 15-year-old girls were indicted for the June death of their friend, who was locked up and brutally beaten for four days for allegedly making rash comments. Another 19-year-old, identified only by his surname Lee, is suspected of dumping the body in a river.The court sentenced Jeong to between five and seven years in prison and each of the three girls to a jail term of between three and four years. Lee was given a two-year jail term and put under court custody. Jeong, who weighs more than 100 kilograms, beat the girl until one of his fingers broke, the court said, describing the gruesome nature of the crime. The victim, held at one of the girls' home, was raised to her feet to be beaten when she fell, and after her death, the culprits searched the Internet for ways to discard the body, the court said."Jeong and the three girls say the murder was not intentional, but judging from the brutal ways in which they beat the victim and disposed of the body, there is an indication of willful negligence," the court said. In sentencing Lee, the court said he was "well aware before the victim's death that she was being beaten, but he encouraged it to continue. He mutilated the body in unimaginably grotesque ways." But he has confessed to the crime and regrets what he did, the court said. The sentences also reflect the wish of the victim's family not to punish the defendants, it said.