A South Korean court on Thursday jailed a
university professor for 12 years for forcing a
student to eat human faeces and drink urine
during a two-year period of physical and
psychological assault.
The sentence was two years more than had been
demanded by prosecutors, reflecting, the court
said, “unimaginable atrocities” committed by the
52-year-old professor that had amounted “to a
sort of psychological murder”.
The professor, identified only by his surname
Jang, was arrested in July after his victim — a
design student now aged 29 — attempted to
commit suicide to escape his ordeal.
The abuse began after Jang hired him to work
for a non-profit organisation.
The court heard how the professor — aided by
other former students who were accused as co-
defendants — had assaulted his former student
with a baseball bat and other weapons.
He also had a plastic bag forced over his face
and filled with pepper spray, after which he was
fed human excrement.
The victim told police he had tolerated the abuse
in the hope that Jang might help him find a full-
time post as a college professor.
“The accused trampled upon his victim’s human
dignity,” the court said.
The three students who had aided Jang were
sentenced to between three and six years in
prison.