Former Army sergeant indicted for allegedly bullying female soldier

Taoyuan, July 29 (CNA) Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted a former Army sergeant for allegedly abusing her authority to bully and physically punish a female subordinate, including by forcing her to spend hours looking for a spider before later beating her when she failed to find it.

The 25-year-old former sergeant, surnamed Sun (孫), served as a deputy squad leader with the Army's 269th Combined Arms Brigade in 2023 before being discharged from the military in 2024 due to accumulating three disciplinary demerits, according to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office.

Prosecutors said Sun repeatedly subjected a female technical specialist, surnamed Tai (台), to unreasonable punishments while they served in the same unit and shared a dormitory between May 4 and May 11 that year. The alleged abuse stemmed from differences in their hygiene routines.

Tai subsequently reported the alleged abuse to her superiors, who launched the investigation and referred the case to civilian prosecutors at the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, who indicted Sun.

According to the indictment, Sun also allegedly ordered Tai to remain in a push-up position while she showered after becoming upset that Tai had bathed before her. She later made Tai perform a wall squat while she dried her hair.

Sun also allegedly ordered Tai not to go to bed until she found a spider in their dormitory. Tai searched until about 3 a.m. before reporting for guard duty from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., leaving her sleep deprived, prosecutors said.

Two days later, prosecutors said, Sun ordered Tai to retrieve the dead spider within two minutes while she was on guard duty. After Tai failed to find it and instead presented Sun with a different dead spider, Sun realized it was a different spider because it was a different size.

Sun also allegedly beat Tai with a baton, forced her to keep her fist in her mouth for eight minutes and made her stand as punishment until dawn.

Prosecutors said Sun abused her authority by forcing her subordinate to carry out pointless tasks, depriving her of sleep and restricting her freedom of movement, and causing severe physical and psychological distress.

Sun denied the allegations during questioning and expressed no remorse, prosecutors said. They added that they had asked the Taoyuan District Court to impose a heavy sentence after indicting her on charges of coercion by a public official abusing official authority.