A woman in her 20s, who had been living in seclusion for three years due to domestic violence from her father, opened up about her suffering caught between resentment and affection toward him.
On the episode of KBS Joy's variety show "Ask Me Anything" aired on the 9th, a woman in her 20s appeared who said she had suffered domestic violence from her father during her childhood.
On the broadcast, the caller stated, "I experienced domestic violence from my father and lived as a hikikomori (in seclusion) for three years," adding, "Because I cannot resolve my feelings of resentment toward my father, I am struggling with how to live with him going forward."
The caller revealed that their originally harmonious family fell apart due to her mother's extramarital affair and debt issues.
She recounted that when she was in the lower grades of elementary school, her mother left home without getting a divorce, after which her father became violent, frequently cursing at and physically assaulting her. She said her younger sister, who suffers from a rare disease called dystonia, was not assaulted.
Later, although her mother reconciled with her father and returned home, the violence reportedly intensified.
The caller recalled an incident she experienced during a family trip when she was in the fifth grade of elementary school.
"I was watching YouTube with my younger sister on my father's phone. I accidentally used data instead of free Wi-Fi," she said, confessing, "My father rolled me up in a blanket and stomped on me wildly."
Upon hearing this, MC Seo Jang-hoon expressed anger, saying, "Is he insane? What is wrong with a father's mind to roll his child up in a blanket and stomp on them?"
The caller said, "When my father is in a good mood, he is cheerful and treats me well, but if he is even slightly upset, he changes completely. I never know when I will be hit."
There was no one to turn to for help. The caller revealed that she had even posted an advice-seeking article on a portal site titled "Is this child abuse? Or domestic violence?" but failed to find a solution.
While relieving stress by hanging out with friends, the caller began experiencing symptoms of panic disorder starting from her third year of middle school.
"I felt like my friends would hate me, and when I went to the front of the school, I would collapse and sit down, and my heart would pound," she said, adding, "When my father dropped me off, I would wander around the nearby apartment complex."
She further added, "To adults, it only looks like I am not going to school, so if I did not go to school, I was beaten even more severely."
There was also a time when she nearly faced forced hospitalization in a psychiatric facility for the reason of not attending school.
"My father tried to force me into a psychiatric hospital to accumulate enough days of absence to be held back a grade because I was not going to school," she revealed. "I was terrified and did not want to be hospitalized, so I lived at my grandmother's house. Only negative stories about me circulated among relatives and my parents."
Ultimately, after barely graduating from middle school, the caller left home with her mother and younger sister. She did not advance to high school and instead lived in seclusion for three years while struggling with past memories.
"I just slept every day and ate only one meal a day," she said, confessing that she had attempted an extreme act but woke up in the intensive care unit.
The caller, who learned that her father had cared for her day and night at the time, expressed complex feelings.
"My heart was troubled. When he was in a good mood, he was a good person. Even though I was beaten, I think I loved my father," she said.
Subsequently, the caller prepared for the general education certificate exam starting at age 20 to be of help to her family, and with her father's support, she passed the university she had wanted to attend. However, she burst into tears, stating that she had again developed extreme thoughts in March last year.
Hearing the story, Seo Jang-hoon advised, "Live for yourself. Cut ties with your family."
He then directed a sharp remark at the caller's parents, saying, "If you hit your child, consider it your responsibility as parents. Support their tuition only until they finish their studies and do not contact them. You have no right to do so."
He emphasized, "If you are trapped in past memories, it is difficult to survive in a harsh world," adding, "You must break through the wall of the shackles of family and escape."
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