crime

24-year-old man found not guilty of fatally abusing 5-month-old daughter

28 Comments

The Nara District Court on Thursday found a 24-year-old man not guilty of fatally abusing his 5-month-old daughter at their apartment in Tenri last December.

Naoya Takigawa was arrested for causing the death of his daughter Shiori at around 5 p.m. on Dec 19, 2016, by repeatedly shaking her body and hitting her head against the wall at their apartment, Fuji TV reported.

Takigawa lived with his then 26-year-old wife and two-year-old son, who were in another room at the time of the incident. His wife told police later that she noticed something wrong with Shiori at around 10:30 p.m. that night and called 119.

Shiori was taken to hospital where she died from brain damage two days later.

The court heard that police consulted several doctors who advised them that the baby's death was a direct result of physical abuse.

When he was arrested, Takigawa was quoted by police as saying that he had been “stressed out” and shook his daughter's body two or three times.

However, his lawyer said that he only dropped the girl accidentally once onto a futon.

In its ruling, the court said that Takigawa had made conflicting statements several times during questioning by police and that his account could not be trusted. It also noted that his wife was home at the time and that Takigawa may have been trying to protect her by making inconsistent statements.

The case was heard by lay judges.

© Japan Today

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28 Comments
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In its ruling, the court said that Takigawa had made conflicting statements several times during questioning by police and that his account could not be trusted. It also noted that his wife was home at the time and that Takigawa may have been trying to protect her by making inconsistent statements.

SO? His account can not be trusted, meaning that the cops did what? One or the other killed this poor baby and now neither are going to face justice?

10 ( +13 / -3 )

He may get out of this one but the guilt inside him stays there forever, he knows he did something to that child!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Of course this guy is going to lie out of his oshiri to get out of trouble. Since he was the only one in the room at the time with his daughter, and being dropped on a futon to cause brain damage is highly unlikey aiding to the fact that futons are soft. Of course he hit the daughters head against the HARD wall. This guy deserves jail. He does not deserve to walk free and get away with it.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

WTF japan, getting away with murder literally.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

It also noted that his wife was home at the time and that Takigawa may have been trying to protect her by making inconsistent statements.

so then charge her with the crime, and let her spend the rest of her life in jail. this makes my blood boil.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

the police have some responsibility here. their was of questioning suspects for example.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

so then charge her with the crime, and let her spend the rest of her life in jail.

Exactly.

this makes my blood boil.

Same here.

This is an outrage!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japan, where life is cheap and children are treated merely as marital property. I hope that child haunts her parents and the judge.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

"Takigawa was quoted by police as saying that he had been “stressed out” and shook his daughter's body two or three times."

"His wife told police later that she noticed something wrong with Shiori at around 10:30 p.m. that night and called 119."

Bequeath to the abatement of parturition progression

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

He must have had a really good lawyer and they must be really stupid judge's!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Fatal abuse is MURDER. A parent just got away with murder.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Minister Kamikawa, is this how the Japanese legal system protects a child's right to live by allowing a murderer to walk free?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Full story and details not available as usual. Outrage guaranteed.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I know children basically live without much in the way of rights here, close to chattel.

But I'm shocked. Where the police and prosecutors idiots, or just asleep?

What about child endangerment or some lessor charge? Not a thing?

Maybe someone will beat his head against the wall.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Pffffft.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

his wife was home at the time and that Takigawa may have been trying to protect her by making inconsistent statements.

Eh? Shouldn't the headline read, "Husband and wife charged with fatal abuse of their 5-month-old daughter" ???

3 ( +3 / -0 )

How does the Japanese see murder? do they have a charge of manslaughter? one is pre medicated the other one is not, in this case it could be classed as manslaughter. (based on UK laws) the USA has different levels of manslaughter/murder.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

A baby girl is dead, and the parents are gonna walk? WTF is wrong with the "justice" system in Japan.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

What is happening in this World when Adult men and sometimes Woman abuse Children and sometimes kill them? It is time for the Courts to send these Peole away to Jail forever!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

What is happening in this World when Adult men and sometimes Woman abuse Children and sometimes kill them? It is time for the Courts to send these Peole away to Jail forever!

It's sad but it's nothing new. It happens for many, many reasons. An inability to cope, mental issues, a cycle of abuse, pressures of poverty, environment and so on.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

While this story is sad as hell, you people seem to think this guy should have been locked up without the evidence to convict him.

Then when someone gets found out to have been wrongly convicted, the JT posters scream about what a disgrace the Japanese legal system is.

So to JT posters, Japan is always wrong.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Yep, I'm one of these:

when someone gets found out to have been wrongly convicted, the JT posters scream about what a disgrace the Japanese legal system is.

There are too many wrongful convictions in this country. I have no idea if the guy in this case actually did it or not, not having heard the facts. All I'm getting is a few points filtered through a person who first listened to them, then filtered through a change in languages, passed through an editor, then printed them to a website. But what I do know is that some lay judges (ie a jury) and some real judges listened to this, and declared him not guilty. That may have been a mistake, but I find it more concerning when the number of guilty verdicts is near 100%.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I find it more concerning that a baby was murdered, and the two people involved will walk away free.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I find it more concerning that a baby was murdered

If the baby was murdered.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

@Strangerland - If the baby was murdered.

So Sherlock, how would a five-month-old baby girl give herself a subdural hematoma? Are you suggesting the injury was somehow self-inflicted or accidental? The admissions of the father seem to point directly at some kind of physical abuse. It's only which party is responsible remains unclear.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

So Sherlock, how would a five-month-old baby girl give herself a subdural hematoma? Are you suggesting the injury was somehow self-inflicted or accidental?

I'm not suggesting anything other than that the people who listened to the evidence in detail decided there wasn't enough to convict this one person on. Unlike the JT posters who read some information filtered through multiple people and at some point a translation. The JT posters think they know better than those who actually listened to the evidence.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Another failure of Japanese law system. Yet another one.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

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