Police in Osaka have arrested a 25-year-old woman on suspicion of abandoning the bodies of three infants in an apartment where she used to live in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.
According to police, Reika Yoshimaru, an adult entertainment shop employee in Osaka’s Ikuno Ward, was arrested on suspicion of corpse abandonment after the remains of the infants were found in the apartment, Fuji TV reported.
Police said that on Wednesday night, Yoshimaru went to a koban (police box) in Osaka and said she had left the remains of a newborn child in her apartment in Sendai in December 2016. When Sendai police searched the vacant apartment in Aoba Ward on Thursday, they found the remains of three newborn infants in plastic bags inside a suitcase in a closet.
Police said Yoshimaru lived in the Sendai apartment, which she still rents, from November 2014 until January 2017. They said Yoshimaru has admitted to giving birth to all three infants — two boys and one girl — but gave no further information on when they were born or who the father or fathers were.
© Japan Today
21 Comments
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Bintaro
That's creepy to say the least... This women must have a serious mental health issue.
Disillusioned
Considering how often newborn infants are found stashed in cupboards, rubbish bins or just dumped in a park in Japan, it's pretty safe to say, she is not the only woman with serious mental health issues.
papigiulio
Another day, another parent who abused or killer or abandoned their own infant(s). It is sickening and depressing.
WA4TKG
With the birthrate at an all time historical LOW in Japan, is there not a system in place that unwanted
babies can be left at hospitals or fire stations (as I understand there IS, in the USA), so that this sort of this does not happen ?
If not, there SHOULD be.
that person
And why does no one seem to be concerned about the cause of death?
TrevorPeace
I wonder why she went to a koban and admitted her culpability? I won't jump on the mental health issue; this story is incomplete, to say the least.
Goodlucktoyou
sex education anybody? contraception anybody? not like this is an evangelical christian country.
Wolfpack
Horribly sad story but people have become numb to this sort of thing. The only difference between these deaths and partial birth abortion deaths are just a few days. Unwanted babies are disposable.
thepersoniamnow
Infanticide is a pretty horrible thing.
From first glance it would seem like it was something she did often. This is a horrible thing and making assumptions about women’s me tal health in general in relation to this is not appropriate.
Michael Jackson
How many babies does she have to kill before it's appropriate to discuss her Mental Health?
Strangerland
One.
toolonggone
Why do you assume no one is concerned about the cause of death?
Who's become numb to this sort of thing? I'm not numb to it. None of the people I've spoken with about this story are numb to it. If the people around you seem numb to it maybe you need to reevaluate the sort of people you're spending time with. And, what's this story got to do with partial birth abortions or was that just you seeing an opportunity to slip in some anti-choice propaganda?
Wolfpack
All those who don’t value the lives of babies - of which this lady is a part.
It has to do with a mother’s choice to end the life of a human baby of essentially the same developmental stage. The degree of comfort we as a society have with choosing to terminate life at such a young age makes it a very small mental step for Yoshimaru to justify infanticide to herself.
DNALeri
So, the apartment owner did not check the apartment after she moved out?
that person
@toolonggone
Because there is no mention of the cause of death of 3 infants in the article and no one else seems to be bothered. I for one, think that cause of death should be the more important point of focus. Was she grieving? Did she murder them?
Wolfpack
No, I did not know that - thanks for that info. Makes me feel a lot better about Japan’s respect for human life.
DNALeri
@Educator: My bad. Sorry.
toolonggone
Again, how do you know what other people are or aren't bothered by? Just because someone doesn't come out and say it doesn't mean something doesn't bother them. I can't understand how you could even jump to that conclusion and manage to pat yourself on the back at the same time.
Who is this "we"? Speak for yourself and unless you're a trained psychologist who's had an opportunity to speak with Yoshimaru or examine information the rest of us aren't privy to, you're making some serious "mental steps" yourself.