South Korean woman reportedly killed herself after being secretly filmed by doctor
- The woman is among thousands of victims of ‘molka’, in which women are covertly filmed and the footage uploaded to websites
- The molka crisis has sparked widespread protests in South Korea, with women marching to confirm ‘my life is not your porn’
The woman, referred to in local news reports as “A”, was found dead at her home in the south west of the country last week. Her family said she had suffered “nightmares and trauma” after finding out that she had been filmed at the hospital without her knowledge.
A statement from her family said she had made an “extreme choice”.
A clinical pathologist at the same hospital was arrested in August for allegedly filming female co-workers in the employees’ changing room. Police allege he made a hole in the changing room wall to film the four victims.
They are investigating a link between the allegations against the pathologist and the woman’s death.
The woman is among thousands of South Korean victims of “molka”, in which women are covertly filmed and the footage uploaded to websites visited by men who often pay subscription fees to access the illegal films.
In 2017, there were a reported 6,400 cases of illegal filming reported to police in South Korea, up from 2,400 in 2012.
Earlier this year, two men were arrested for secretly filming 1,600 people in 30 hotels across 10 cities in South Korea. The films were uploaded to a subscription website.