A Seoul court on Tuesday threw out a compensation suit filed by the mother of two daughters who committed suicide after a convoluted multiple-rape case.

The ruling has generated much online outrage, with Internet users criticizing the ruling, and local regulations.

Judge Kwak Hyung-sub of the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the suit was filed after statute of limitations expired, making the suit null and void.

The suit was filed in 2013, more than four years after the sisters’ suicide. According to local regulations, compensation suits must be filed within three years of an incident.

In 2004, the older sister began working as a bit-part actor on the suggestion of her sibling, who was hoping to become an actress.

The older sister, who was an introvert and had a record of receiving counseling, was soon subjected to sexual harassment by employees of the company managing bit-part actors.

The harassments turned to assaults, and the management company’s employees allegedly confined her in a motel room and raped her on numerous occasions.

Her assailants are also alleged to have threatened to kill the victim’s mother and to sell off her sister if she resisted.

The alleged assailants are also reported to have been aware that others were sexually assaulting the victim, and used the knowledge to force her into performing further sexual acts.

The victim filed a police report in December that year, but dropped the charges saying that the facts of the case would be hard to prove and that she was in too much pain recalling the ordeal.

She then went on to receive treatment for a number of years, until she killed herself in 2009.

A month after the victim’s suicide, her sister followed suit.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)