South Korean woman who bit off attacker's tongue acquitted after 61 years

Choi Mal-ja only managed to break free after biting off about 1.5cm of her alleged attacker's tongue.

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Choi Mal-ja was 18 when she was convicted of grievous bodily harm and sentenced to 10 months in jail. Her aggressor, who was 21, received a lighter sentence of six months.

After a years-long campaign to clear her name, a retrial began in the southern city of Busan in July. In its first hearing, prosecutors apologised to her and, in an unusual move, asked the court to quash the conviction.

"I could not let this case go unanswered... I [wanted] to stand up for other victims who share the same fate as mine," Ms Choi said after the acquittal.

As a teenager back then, the incident changed her fate by "turning [me] from a victim to an accused".