In a bizarre and horrific tale of kidnap, murder and twisted love, a South Korean woman is alleged to have hired three men to kidnap a baby, which she pretended was her own in a bid to persuade her boyfriend to marry her.
Police were yesterday questioning a 35-year-old women, identified only by her surname Kim, and the three men she is accused of contracting to abduct a new-born baby eight months ago.
'The woman was holding on to the baby tightly, as if he were actually hers, even during questioning,' a police officer was quoted as telling the South Korean press.
Kim is reported to have paid the three men 70 million won ($5.5 million), which she received from her future in-laws, and told the kidnappers 'a girl or a boy - either will do. Get one from a single mother'.
One of the three men took part in a police re-enactment of the kidnap.
He described how he and his accomplices dragged a 20-year-old mother and her child off the streets of Kyonggi, just outside of Seoul last May.
He was quoted as telling the police they delivered the baby to Kim while the mother, who was being held in a car outside the home, begged for the return of her child.
