Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Crime, New Zealand, World News, Korea
Rhiannon Ingle
A woman has been arrested on murder charges after two children were found dead inside a suitcase.
The woman says she is innocent.
Two children of primary-school age were tragically found dead in a suitcase that was sold at an online auction.
Authorities have reported that a woman was arrested in South Korea on Thursday (15 September) on murder charges from New Zealand following the discovery of the devastating remains.
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While they did not confirm whether the 42-year-old suspect was the dead children’s mother or not, South Korean police have said that it was suspected she could be the mother of the two victims, as her past address in New Zealand was registered to the storage unit where the suitcases were kept for years.
The woman has since been detained in Ulsan following the issuing of a South Korean court warrant, after New Zealand requested her extradition.
When the unidentified woman, who had covered her face with her coat hood, was escorted by police into a car headed for the capital, Seoul, she reportedly claimed that she was not guilty for the heinous crimes.
The 42-year-old allegedly told reporters: "I did not do it," before entering the vehicle, Reuters reports.
An official at the National Police Agency, Park Seung-hoon, has reported that the woman will undergo a review at the Seoul High Court over whether she should be extradited of which has to take place within two months.
The suitcase was purchased by a family in South Auckland, New-Zealand from a storage unit in an online auction.
The dead children were only found last month (11 August), when the family were horrified by the contents inside their newly-bought luggage.
Police since launched a homicide investigation and announced that the post-mortem results showed that the bodies belonged to two 'primary school-aged children' and they had been dead for 'a number of years'.
Counties Manukau District Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua issued a statement on the matter: "Initial post-mortem examinations have been carried out and the results show that the remains found in two suitcases are that of two primary school-aged children.
"Early indications suggest these children may have been deceased for a number of years before being found last week."
The district crime manager continued: "We reiterate that the occupants of the Moncrieff Avenue property are not connected to their deaths.
"They are understandably distressed by the discovery, and they have asked for privacy. We are ensuring there is support in place for them."
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