South Korea – CCTV footage of a woman who narrowly escaped a stalker trying to enter her home has gone viral in South Korea.
On May 28, at Sillim-dong, Seoul, a woman entering her home was unaware that someone was watching her.
The 85-second CCTV footage showed a woman arriving at her floor and entering her apartment. As she stepped into her home, a man in a long sweater and cap appeared and tried to stop the door from closing.
Seeing that it was shut, he tried the handle and even proceeded to knock on the door.
The man then lingered in the area, occasionally going back to the door and trying his luck.
All the while, he avoids being clearly seen by the CCTV camera by lowering his head and pulling his sweater up his neck to cover what seems to be a tattoo.
Watch the video below:
According to The Korea Herald, the suspect, a 30-year-old man surnamed Jo, turned himself in the following day after police investigations began.
He claimed that he did not remember what happened because he was drunk.
The police initially charged Jo with trespassing, stating that “there needs to have been a physical attack or threats to charge him for attempted rape.”
At the same time, a Cheong Wa Dae online petition was created demanding for strict punishment for Jo which garnered over 90,000 signatures as of June 6 (Thursday), reported The Korea Herald.
Due to public outrage on the incident, the police retracted their initial charges and accused Jo of attempted rate citing the Act on Special Cases for the punishment of his crimes.
“Based on attempts to forcefully open the victim’s front door along with a series of actions, attempted home invasion and rape can be recognized,” the police noted.
Another footage was uploaded by Channel A News (Korea) which showed Jo following the woman on the streets before he tried to enter her apartment.
Watch the footage below: