The death of a man in his 70s at a nursing home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, in October has reignited concern over increasing incidents of abuse against older people at care facilities.

The man's family on Wednesday pressed charges against the head of the facility where he was staying, accusing one of the nursing home's employees of abuse.

The bereaved family members claim that the nursing home violated the Welfare of Senior Citizens Act through the alleged abuse of the patient. The man died from sepsis induced by a urinary tract infection. The infection was reportedly caused by the failure of nursing home employees to change the man's soiled diaper.

At the time the man was taken to hospital for treatment, he was wearing three diapers that were covered in feces and urine.

After the man's death, the family suspected abuse had taken place at the nursing home and reported the case to a senior welfare organization in North Chungcheong Province, which found that the nursing home had bound the patient to a wheelchair without the family's consent. The organization reported the case to the Cheongju City Government, which found that the nursing home had erased surveillance footage related to the patient.

The family also said that the nursing home did not give the patient his required daily medication for diabetes and blood pressure for a week.

The nursing home has dismissed the claims that the urinary tract infection caused the man's death, saying that he died because of complications from his numerous medical conditions.

The nursing home also claimed that it was standard procedure for male dementia patients to wear three diapers, with many such patients experiencing frequent urination.

The facility also said that the man had been bound to his wheelchair only during mealtimes due to the risk of him falling.

According to the facility, the lack of surveillance footage was due to a power failure in the building.

Police plan to summon the nursing home's head for questioning, and said they will conduct a raid on the facility if necessary.

South Korea has seen a rise in the number of abuse cases against the elderly at nursing homes in recent years, with reported cases increasing every year from 380 in 2018 to 662 in 2022, according to Ministry of Welfare data released in October.

The ministry report showed that there had been a total of 6,807 abuse cases against the elderly in 2022, up slightly from 6,774 the year before.

Earlier this month, a caretaker at a nursing home in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, was indicted on charges of abuse, after surveillance footage showed that the caretaker caused a major injury to the arm of a patient.

Last month, another nursing home caretaker was sentenced to one year and four months in prison for assaulting seven patients at a nursing home. In several instances, the caretaker used a broom to assault the victims.