Woman with mental illness kills mother-in-law with dementia in Seongnam

A woman in her 60s has been arrested after allegedly killing her elderly mother-in-law, with whom she shared a home, following a report by another family member.

The Seongnam Jungwon Police Station said Tuesday it had apprehended the suspect, identified only as A, on murder charges and was investigating the case.

A is accused of stabbing her mother-in-law, identified as B, a woman in her 80s with dementia, at a villa in Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, on Monday afternoon.

Police arrived at the scene around 8:30 p.m. — several hours after the incident — after another family member living in the same building called it in, and arrested A.

Investigators believe A, who has a mental illness, had long lived with B and that tensions between the two led to the killing. Police are looking into the exact circumstances of the case.

As the two have been confirmed to be daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, police plan to reclassify the charge as patricide and apply for an arrest warrant.