Wife first to stand trial in S. Korea for allegedly raping husband

SEOUL — A woman has been charged with forcing her husband to have sex with her, prosecutors said on Tuesday in the first indictment of its kind in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.

The woman, identified only by her surname Shim, locked her husband, surnamed Kim, in their house for 29 hours and forced him to have sex with her, Yonhap said, citing the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office.

Shim allegedly committed the crime with the aim of obtaining “favorable evidence” for divorce procedures, the prosecutors said according to Yonhap.

South Korea’s Supreme Court recognized spousal rape as a crime in May 2013, putting the socially conservative country in line with countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany and France.

Later that month, a 46-year-old man became the first to be convicted of marital rape in the country and was sentenced to 3.5 years’ jail, Korean media reported.

The court also ordered that the man’s personal information be made available to the public for seven years, and that he wear an electronic anklet for 10 years after he is released from jail.

RELATED STORIES

On Target: First-ever conviction for marital rape

Malaysia gov’t maintains marital rape not a crime

Derek Ramsay vows to fight wife’s beating, marital rape suit