Father seeks review of police closure in death of 44-month-old girl with bruises, capsaicin in blood

A request has been filed asking authorities to review whether police acted appropriately when they closed a case involving a 44-month-old girl who died in Seoul's Seongbuk-gu seven years ago.

According to Yonhap, the father of the girl, identified only as A, submitted a request Monday to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for a formal investigation review. A died on June 28, 2019, from a head injury.

The father, identified as B, asked the review panel to examine whether the Seongbuk Police Station was right to close the case in April without formally opening a criminal investigation, having concluded there was no evidence of a crime.

B said the girl's body had been covered in bruises and wounds at the time of her death, and that emergency room staff had suspected child abuse — yet police handled the case as an unexplained death rather than opening a formal criminal investigation.

He also cited statements made by A's older sister at a child advocacy center suggesting that A's stepmother had fed her hot sauce and other spicy condiments as punishment. A National Forensic Service autopsy further found capsaicin in A's blood, which B said warranted additional investigation into whether abuse had occurred.

The National Forensic Service said in its autopsy report that while the capsaicin could not be directly linked to the cause of death, "it is presumed that a significant amount of capsaicin was ingested," adding that "there is doubt as to whether A ingested it on her own."

The agency said the head injury was the primary cause of death, compounded by a deteriorating overall physical condition and severe dehydration. It added that the mechanism behind the head injury could not be determined from autopsy findings alone, and that no evidence pointing to third-party involvement had been confirmed.

However, it noted that "since findings such as the detection of capsaicin suggest actions difficult to attribute to the child herself, the possibility of abuse by another person cannot be fully ruled out."

Photographs attached to the National Forensic Service report show bruising and subcutaneous hemorrhaging across A's entire body, including her head, torso, arms and legs.

B, who said frequent business travel had made it difficult for him to directly observe signs of abuse, said the autopsy report provided grounds to investigate how A came to ingest the hot sauce, as well as the causes of her head injury and the widespread physical trauma.

"I am not asking for anyone's criminal liability to be established," B said. "What I need is a review of whether the police were right to close the investigation at the time, and whether further investigation is warranted."

An investigation review is a procedure available to parties in a case — including complainants — who believe the investigation process or its outcome was unfair or improper.

If the request is accepted, a review committee comprising outside experts such as lawyers and legal scholars may be convened. The committee can recommend supplementary or renewed investigation, expedited processing, or reassignment to a different unit or agency. Its recommendations are not legally binding, but are considered difficult to reject without justifiable cause.