Prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for the mother of a three-year-old girl found dead in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province in February, for switching two babies.

In a final hearing held at Daegu District Court on Tuesday, the prosecution said the 48-year-old defendant surnamed Seok committed a serious, inhumane crime.

They added that if the toddler’s body had not been found in the empty home, the defendant’s crime would have never been discovered and then called for stern punishment.

Prosecutors claim Seok switched her own baby with that of her 22-year-old daughter at an obstetric clinic in Gumi in 2018. From there, Seok allegedly lived as the grandmother to her own child before a DNA test revealed the truth.

In her final statement, Seok continued to deny ever giving birth or switching the infants.