In a probable suicide case, the former mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon died after his secretary accused him of sexual harassment, and now, an investigation says that her accusations were credible, a CNN report says. 

An investigation by the independent National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC) says that the former mayor’s words and actions towards his secretary come under South Korea’s laws of sexual harassment.

The human rights commission, in its report released on Monday, said, finds that the victim’s allegation against Park, who was a self-proclaimed feminist and second-most powerful official at the time of his death, was never heard in court. 

Park was found dead last year in July on a mountainside near his official residence, after which the police confirmed that sexual harassment claims against him, reports CNN. 

A day after the complaint against the former mayor was filed on July 8, he went missing, according to the victim’s lawyer, which sparked outrage in South Korea as some said that Park’s accuser would never get justice, reports CNN.

The new report, adds credibility to the accusation by the alleged victim, who had also faced backlash on social media from people mourning Park’s death. 

The alleged victim has alleged that Park had alleged her for four years, even after she moved to a different department, an accusation that has been validated in the new investigation. 

When a suspect dies in South Korea, open investigations are closed because the prosecutors have no grounds to make an indictment, the law says. 

The human rights commission interview 52 people for the case, including the accuser, analysed documents submitted by different officials. It found that the alleged victim was asked by Park to take care of his life’s intimate aspects, which included handling his undergarments before and after he showered, CNN reports. 

The witnessed interviewed by the NHRC also testified that the former mayor used to send “inappropriate texts and photos” to the alleged victim. 

The alleged victim’s lawyer had last year said that Park had sent her pictures of himself in underwear and also obscene, late-night messages on Telegram, reports CNN.