Prosecutors on Wednesday asked for seven years in prison for a woman charged with raping her husband.

Shim, 41, is being tried in Seoul Central District Court for confining her husband for 29 hours in a flat in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in May 2015. She is also accused of duct-taping the victim’s limbs and raping him. The verdict is due Sept. 9.

The two were reportedly going through a divorce suit. 

The victim was allegedly pressured to speak into a voice recorder that the reason he was seeking divorce was because he had an extramarital affair.

It is thought that Shim’s actions were intended to gain an upper ground in their divorce proceedings.

The victim was rescued after he managed to call for help by phone.

Prosecutors argued that “The accused has not expressed any remorse for her actions nor has she gained pardon from the victim,” and that therefore a stern punishment is unavoidable.

Shim is the first woman to be accused of raping her husband.

Prosecutors are seeking 3 years in prison for Shim’s accomplice, Kim, 42, who helped in the incarceration of the victim.

Shim admits having locked up the victim but denies the rape charges, claiming the sex was by mutual consent.

She said in her final statement that, “Although there is much that I personally want to say, I only ask the court to reach a sage decision.”

Shim’s legal representative pleaded in her defense that “The couple’s actions before and after the sex shows that there had been consent,” and that “Shim had no intentions to rape.”


By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)