41 year-old Kim Yoo-chul and his 25 year-old wife, Choi Mi-sun, of Suwon, South Korea have apparently been going through very rough times. The couple had lost their jobs some time back which threw them into a downward spiral of depression. To add onto the difficulty of their matters, they became parents of a premature infant girl to take care of through the burden of their financial woes. To escape to reality and feel the myrth that was devoid in their lives, they turned to Pius Online, where they would spend long stretches of time at internet cafes, taking care of their virtual infant that was probably much less stressful. Unfortunately, this eventually cost the life of their three month-old toddler who died of malnutrition.

The couple discovered their dead daughter in September when they returned from a twelve hour shift at the internet cafe, during which their daughter was left alone. Apparently, the mother would only breastfeed the infant once a day, ruling neglect as the obvious source for the unfortunate loss.

Much of the cause has been directed to the mother's mental status quo, which actually runs along the lines of mothers with premature births. According to a six-week study from the International Journal of Nursing Studies in 2005, mothers of premature children visualize and scrutinize the physical appearances of their newborns. Pregnant women naturally are attracted to visually appealing physical characteristics, ones that may be expected from their offspring. The physical characteristics of a premature infant, coupled with the awful truth of their unemployment, likely was the catalyst for the couple's downward spiral.

"The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life because they didn't have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby," Suwon police officer Chung Jin-won explained. "They instead played an online game in which they raised a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby."

Professor Kwak Dae-kyung of Dongguk University in Seoul is under the impression that the couple's dedication to Pius Online was a filter for their real-world guilt about their unemployment and infant's health concerns. By raising their avatars' powerful and perfect child, the couple felt as though they had come as close to proud parenthood as they had ever come. Meanwhile, Michael Breen of The Koreans has shares his input by saying, "South Korea remains a very conservative society so people who fall outside the norm can come under severe stress and pressure."

The deceased infant's father, Kim Yoo-chul, expressed his remorse in this statement, "I wish that she hadn't got sick and that she will live well in heaven forever. And as the father, I am sorry."

Source: CNN, Boston Moms