A teenage boy in Yanggang Province’s Pungso County recently turned himself in after murdering his own mother, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province said Monday that “the teenage boy had suffered a long period of psychological and economic hardship after both his parents were sent away to reeducation camps. He was ultimately moved in with his mom when she was released, but then ended up murdering her.”
Originally from Hyesan, the boy was left on his own at an early age when his parents were sentenced to reeducation-through-labor for smuggling, human trafficking and other crimes.
Abandoned by his relatives and with nowhere to go, his inminban (people’s unit) and neighborhood police left him at a school for orphans. But he was hungry and lonely there, too, and he ran away, only to wander around the markets of Hyesan.
His father died in the reeducation camp, and his mother was released this spring, but unable to return to her hometown of Hyesan, she was exiled to Pungso County. Her son then came to join her there.
“With no home, the boy lived with his mother in a small warehouse next to the office of a labor brigade constructing homes in Pungso County,” the source said. “The mom worked in the labor brigade during the day and at a private inn during the night. That’s when the murder happened.”
In late August, the boy took five kilograms of rice – all the food the two had at home – and sold it to buy smokes and liquor. His mother got angry with him about what he had done, and that is when he stabbed her to death.
After committing the murder, the boy turned himself in to the neighborhood watch unitNeighborhood watch units (inminban, people's units) are Nort... More leader along with the murder weapon. Local authorities then took him into custody.
During his interrogation, the boy said he had been ostracized by his classmates because he was the son of ex-reeducation camp inmates, and that he had always had a grudge against his parents as a result.
The boy claimed that at school, his teachers scorned him as the son of criminals and made him clean the latrines. He told the police that he had even made a pledge to take revenge on his parents one day.
“The police took pity on the boy, and submitted a proposal to the provincial authorities urging an investigation of the school for orphans that had been responsible for turning the boy into what he was. They said in the proposal that such facilities should be looking after children but are instead committing discrimination and treating them poorly,” the source said.
In Hyesan, people who heard about the tragedy turned their criticism on the government, lamenting that “many families have been broken up because the authorities are arresting everyone for smuggling rather than opening the way for people struggling to survive,” according to the source.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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