crime

3-year-old boy's ankles and wrists bound with rope for 20 hours

65 Comments

A 3-year-old boy in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, was left at home bound at the ankles and wrists for almost a full day, police said Sunday. The boy's mother, 30-year-old Ruriko Nagai, and the man with whom she lived, Shinya Kaneko, 45, allegedly left the boy in a bedroom for around 20 hours bound by a rope which was attached to a 10-kg dumbbell.

He was discovered at his home by Nagai's 28-year-old brother who had come to visit on Saturday. Nagai was at home at the time and reportedly told her brother she only untied him to change his diaper. Her brother called the police that evening. When police visited the apartment on Sunday, the boy was found to have suffered from subcutaneous bleeding and other minor injuries as a result of the incident.

In a statement made to police, Nagai was quoted as saying: "Yes, he was injured, but if I let him walk around, he causes trouble for me, so I was teaching him discipline. We've done it before."

Police are investigating the possibility that the boy was bound regularly.

© Compiled from news reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

65 Comments
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She was not teaching him discipline, I mean, what kind of discipline was that? 3-year-olds CAN understand words and the mother should have talked to him not to touch things he wasn't supposed to. Sure it IS trouble for the mother if a small child walks around the house and touches everything when she wants to do something else, BUT as a mother, she should have managed to do things she wanted to do during the day and whatever else, she should wait until the boy goes to sleep, or leave the boy at daycare, etc.. Kudos to the brother who called the police and I am so glad he visited the house. I am sorry to say, but a mother and a boy friend -- AGAIN? Was my reaction when I read the article..

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“Yes, he was injured, but if I let him walk around, he causes trouble for me, so I was teaching him discipline. We’ve done it before.”

WTF!?!?! Choose your baby sitters very carefully people! What pair of utter nut cases!

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"Teaching him discipline"??! What is wrong with some people? Here we have a prime example of why having children should be made a privilege and not a right.

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Great that the bro reported this to the police. He is obviously normal.

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Good for the brother for calling the police on his sister!

As I sit and type there is "snow" all over the lounge carpet from a ripped up box of tissues courtesy of my 4 year old and 1 year old. The spice boxes have been taken from the rack and strewn all over the kitchen floor, and every DVD has been pulled from the shelf - THIS IS WHAT TODDLERS DO! You cant just tie them up to stop them making mischief! You teach them to clean up and not touch dangerous stuff at all. Its called "parenting". Evidently something this pair have missed.

What scares me the most is that they don`t even seem to think they have done anything wrong!

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You teach them to clean up

Absolutely right. Toddlers learn so much by making a mess and everything around them is basically a toy. Tissue, papers, food, EVERYTHING. When I give my toddler some food, she makes a mess.. but do I give her no food?? Well, I talk to her and teach her to eat clean, but she still makes a mess, so I show her how to clean up and we clean up together.

I also agree with you miamum that it is so scary that these people who do this to kids do not have the sense of guilt, they think it is perfectly acceptable. Arresting them and putting them in a cell wouldn't change them at all because they don't think they did anything wrong. What they need is (on top of arresting them) a proper counseling and classes to take, and they probably should be tied to a poll and be put in the bathroom for 20 hours to EXPERIENCE it.

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A 3yr old that needs his diapers changed.

Something very wrong here.

And agree with miamum. Most of my stuff moved higher in the apartment as my son got more and more mobile.

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Kudos to the brother. His sister is a sick jerk.

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3 cheers for the brother as this wud have surely escalated to somethings even worse, may well have saved the tykes life.

Man far too many of the people having kids in this country shud have been fixed so they cant reproduce, what sad sad place Jpn is getting to be

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this is what happens when you don't have child care services drop by unannounced and with full rights to check out the premises on demand. Any deny would result in the police knocking down the door and removing the child from harms way. Japan is just too "not any of my business", "the parents decide what kind of discipline to use and we can't do anything" which is the attitude for pretty much anything else. Hence kid next door is beaten to death and when asked the neighbor replies that he did hear some loud noises and noticed the kid always seemed to be bleeding from the head with a back eye and limp. But, hey he probably fell off his bike every other day.

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A 3yr old that needs his diapers changed. Something very wrong here.

Zenny, if you were tied up for 20 hours and not allowed to 'go', you'd probably need a nappy too. What's wrong is that the mother saw nothing wrong in tying the boy up in the first place.

As for '3-year-olds CAN understand words' - normally yes, but I wonder how much time was ever spent communicating with this little boy. If he spent most of his time tied up alone in a bedroom because his mother couldn't be bothered to look after him properly, he isn't going to have learned many words. Depending on how often and how long he's been tied up during a period of his life when he should be running about and interacting with people, he could have suffered damage much deeper and more serious than minor physical injuries from the rope. His development could be impeded. Poor kid.

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When I give my toddler some food, she makes a mess.. but do I give her no food??

Oh god fishy, you just made my day! What a great comment! Especially pertinent as my 1 year old right now thinks he can eat by himself and insists on it every day. I think my husband is on the verge of a heart-attack he is such a neat-freak!

I have often joked about how he should lock the kids in a cupboard all day if he doesnt want a messy apartment, but it is shocking that there are parents here who actually DO it and dont think it is wrong!

Most of my stuff moved higher in the apartment as my son got more and more mobile.

I`m right with you! We have just hit the 1 metre mark this weekend! Our apartment looks really bare from the waist down! And now the little tyke has just discovered he can open doors too and heads for the sock drawers in the bedrooms like a slightly wobbly exocet missile!

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Cleo.

My comment was that there was way more wrong in his upbringing than the form of disciplining.

Like so often you are going a bit overboard here, assuming way too many things.

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A 3yr old that needs his diapers changed.

zenny-

i am not even sure if they really changed him, either.. poor boy,, he probaby hasn't got toilet training, either.

if the mom is so lazy to be bothered by a toddler walking around the house, i doubt she was toilet training him.

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cwhite.

Sure, child services got nothing better to do than checking on families that have no reported problems.

It got reported and is being taken care of, that not good enough?

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Thx, fishy. I agree.

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They definitely have some strange ideas of what constitute discipline in Japan. Bound and gagged, locked in a rubbish bin, placed onto the balcony in winter and, my personal favorite, the good old beating around the head. I remember my J-ex asking me, at what age should I start smacking kids for discipline? I replied, it depends what age you want me to start doing it to you! That may be part of the reason she is my ex, hey?

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That disgusting woman should not be allowed to see the poor boy ever again. As for the partner being "de-facto" - wow, surprise, surprise. These people should be locked away for a long time. I sadly have to ask for the 1000th time: Who is looking after the kids in Japan?

I just hope the little boy is OK and is placed in a loving foster care family.

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They definitely have some strange ideas of what constitute discipline in Japan

please note that MOST japanese parents do NOT do this and most Japanese people are truly disgusted when we hear news like this.

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Some people should not have children.

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Zenny -

Again I'm puzzled by your reaction to my agreeing with you....We have here a mother who by her own admission cannot be bothered to look after her child. It doesn't take too much imagination to realise that the poor kid's upbringing has been blighted in other ways, too.

Obviously there is way more wrong in his upbringing than the form of discipline - leaving aside the fact that a three-year-old shouldn't be being 'disciplined' for 'walking around' in the first place.

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I think that the punishment for the couple should be exactly what they did to the poor little boy. And they should never have contact with him again; obviously it would do more harm to keep him with the mother than to take him away.

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Cleo.

Might be the way you word your posts. As they sounds very similar to posts where you disagree with mine and others views.

Either way we seem to agree.

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Another monster Japanese mother.

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Omg!! How sick. Kids cause a mess and bounce around, that's how theyre supposed to be. And a 3 yr old boy in a nappy is not such an odd thing. Boys take a bit longer than girls... My 4yr old still sleeps in a nappy and asks to wear one when we go on a long car trip. I hope the mother finds out how it feels to be locked up for 23 hrs a day!! I agree, thank the lord for the brother.

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@Cleo. You always hit the point in my view and I'm glad you're here as a voice of reason. Feel free to put me in my place if needed :)

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This woman is sick. Good for the brother. What can be done to teach parents these days on... how to parents for god sakes?

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She should get one of those play pen things. If the mother can't watch him for a short while, just plop him in that. Safe and normal.

It's just so amazing that the mother couldn't come up with that and no one suggested it to her.

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The police should give the brother an award. Why is that every time this sort of thing happens it's a single mother living with another man?

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bicultural-

Why is that every time this sort of thing happens it's a single mother living with another man?

That was my reaction as well.. a single mom with a boy friend AGAIN.. The mother probably relied on the boy friend too much and neglected her child. A mother stopped being a mother and became a woman in this case.. They should learn that we can be a mother AND a woman at the same time..

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What amazes me the most is the amount of posters calling for the biblical punishment of "an eye for an eye" and are the same posters who condemn other nations for having such mid-evil mentality. The hypocracy! BTW, I am all for some sort of "an eye for an eye" punishment.

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Im surprised i am not surprised.

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Why do these people have kids? I'm just thinking GRRRRR!

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Why do these people have kids? I'm just thinking GRRRRR

These people probably ask the same exact question to themselves as well! Why do we have kids?? Surprise surprise when you don't plan to be a parent and ended up becoming a parent.

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Stories like this just make me too sad for words. Used to get angry, but now I just wonder how a woman can get to that age and do that. Forgive me for my blatant sexism, but stories about bad men don't surprise me, but a mother doing that to her own child always baffles me.

This probably shows my insanity, but I feel like taking the boy into my home for a while and giving him some happy times. talking with the mother and finding out how she became like that and trying to help her become a human , but meeting the "boyfriend" and going into a locked room and bashing him. How do people get that bad?

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Thank goodness for the uncle who intervened on his nephew's behalf. I think that goes to show Nagai Ruriko and her brother were not raised by parents who tethered them to a dumbbell.

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I think most posters have more or less hit the nail on the head in terms of calling this just plain sick. I hope the mother is 'disciplined' (and her boyfriend). Good on the brother -- couldn't have been easy to call the police on his sister.

Zenny11: "Might be the way you word your posts. As they sounds very similar to posts where you disagree with mine and others views."

It's interesting how you said Cleo was 'assuming too many things' after you misread her comment (ie. WHO is assuming? ;)). You might be offended when someone disagrees with you, by there are few posters more down to earth than Cleo, but she never goes overboard.

lovejapan21: "What amazes me the most is the amount of posters calling for the biblical punishment of "an eye for an eye" and are the same posters who condemn other nations for having such mid-evil mentality. The hypocracy!"

I have no idea what you're talking about. So.... someone who condemns this mother and her boyfriend is a hypocrite for criticizing a nation that has a 'mid-evil' mentality? Weird.

fishy/bi-cultural: "That was my reaction as well.. a single mom with a boy friend AGAIN.. "

That crossed my mind, too, but I quickly recalled a number of cases of murder and abuse in which the father was 'away at work'. So clearly it's not limited to this kind of thing.

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A three-year old child? Wow...that`s pure child abuse...it does not do anything with discipline. The mother of the child needs to be medically checked for cognitive impairment.

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@yasukuni. I can agree with your comment and sentiment. Beautifully put. I hope this boy is taken and giving to maybe the brother so he can find happiness.

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Why do people always have generalize about Japan? Unfortunately this kind of thing happens overseas all the time also.

My wife (Japanese) thinks I am too harsh with our 3 year old (and the 13 year old too for that matter). And vice versa. We each have our own opinions on bringing kids up. It's more father vs mother ideals than anything else.

As for tying the poor kid up like that, that's just plain wrong and inexcusable. Both my wife and I would call the authorities if we saw that, it's common sense anywhere.

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Child Abuse-Obviously the parents wanted to do something or go somewhere without the child. Why couldn't they leave the son to the sister's younger brother ?

Or maybe this child is Screamer, Mischievous, Wild Boy, or a normal child.

I want to know how wild this kid was ? What was the logical reason to hog tie a child ?

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There is no reason to hog tie a 3 year old or any child for that matter. Smart measures of discipline and bribery (depending on the occasion) are what is needed. By discipline I mean reduce playtime, relegate a beloved toy to the top shelf or some such thing.

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I want to know how wild this kid was ? What was the logical reason to hog tie a child ?

doesn't matter how wild the child was.. it was the mother's responsibility to control her child instead of tying him up in the bathroom.

it can be exhausting to be with a wild (or I should say normal) kid, but one should never do what this mother did to the boy.

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" Yes, he was injured, but if I let him walk around, he causes trouble for me "

Wtf?? I don´t even know whqat that is supposed to mean. Of course, a 3-year old causes "trouble", but that trouble is a lot of fun, too. If that stupid cow thinks a 3-year old kid is "trouble", then why does she get pregnant in the first place?

Good for brother, who called the cops on her.

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Another week, another child abuse story... how many kids have to suffer before politicians decide it's time to radically reform social services, family law and child protection laws? Everything needs an overhaul: contraception,adoption, divorce, the foster-system, social services etc. There is something rotten in the kingdom of Japan and this is it.

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Penelope:

I don´t see how anything "the politicians" could have done would have changed anything here.

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No intention of 'relativizing' the sad case above, similar cases of almost involving the same story ( some ended up fatal ) take place almost everyday & everywhere. Broken families--> school dropouts-->single mothers /Unfit mothers-->the vicious descending spiral carries on. This seems to be a universal issue definitely NOT only in Japan..

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I don't know... One more. Today's. Another couple unable to provide the most basic care to a child.

Everyday in the media, they give the news. Who cares ? Weather forecast. Who cares ? Trucks pass in my street all the time and propose to take away old TV sets. Who cares ? Please, pass a short message "You have kids and you don't know how to deal with them ? Call free number 333. We come and pick up the stuff you don't need."

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just so sick

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My thoughts and prayers go out to this little boy. I hope the uncle or another caring adult can adopt him.

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I hope they throw this cantankerous mother and her lover in jail for a couple of years! This boy deserves a much more loving home!

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Now there's a good case for court sanctioned sterilization.

Poor little mite ... I hope he gets real love in his life from now on.

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I am so glad the brother went out of his way to report the matter to the Police. I bet the siblings won't speak to each other anymore for the rest of their lives...

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"If I let him walk around, he causes trouble for me"

LOL! You mean your three-year-old doesn't do the dishes or do the laundry or take out the trash, but instead just walks around causing trouble if you don't keep him tied up?! LOL!

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Im a broken, a school drop-out and a single Mom!generally speaking not everyone is out there abusing their kid. Ruriko Nagai is a horible mother, can't imagine myself doing this to my little angel.

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Seems like another couple who thought having a kid would be a good idea, only to find out kids are a full-time job and your habit of going to the (pick all that apply: phone to talk to friends for hours, pachinko parlor, mall, restaurant, local bar, conbini, bathroom) is going to have to take the child into consideration. Some people are just not cut out for being responsible for children.

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This little boy needs to be rescued from the horrific troll he was so unfortunate enough to be born to.

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When I was small, the way you kept the young ones from getting into trouble was a crib. By age three, however, the parent had to accomodate the situation by having the child accompany them when they left the house. Only the most depraved tied their child(ren) to the radiator or some other fixed device then left the dwelling.

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The boy’s mother, 30-year-old Ruriko Nagai, and the man with whom she lived, Shinya Kaneko, 45 Gosh! This kind of news is getting really, really worn out, just imput the female name of some idiot Japanese woman, and then fill in the blank of her LIVE IN LOVER, BOY FRIEND, SEX PARTNER etc..then just fill in the blank on the AGE,SEX,kind of injury or DEATH caused by the NEGLECT of the idiot mother and the ABUSE of the male adult in this kind of news. No amount of good old horse whippings would change these 2 idiot adults, time to lock the up and throw away the keys! Poor little boy down there in Hyogo.

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For once, you can't blame the mother's parents for raising HER wrong. Her brother arrived, saw what happened, and didn't put up with it. He gets praise for doing the right thing even though he knew it would be an embarassment to his family.

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Another Sad, sad family. You are truly messed in the head Ms.Nagai. I hope you are bound with heavy chain and left to cry for 20 hours. I hope the little fellows uncle takes him away from this horror

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Zenny11 - child services should be dropping by at least once a year at random till the kid is age 4-5. It should be compulsory like it is in the UK unlike Japan which you have to ask them to come to your home. For the average family it is not much of an inconvenience and would actually welcome the pros with open hands and ask any questions which I would hope new parents have plenty of.

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This woman deserves a head shot... Horrid woman, she abuses such an innocent young boy when all over the world there are many families incapable of having children. Atroshous.

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sick.

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How can these people do this to a 3 year old kid? I'm strict with my children, but this is not right. Spend more time with your kid. Our 2 boys by the time they were 3 fully understand that they have their own toys and other stuff are off limits unless they ask first. And of course they still break our stuff, but it's normal for kids to break stuff, heck, I still do it all the time myself. As for kids getting in your way, they just want to check out what you're doing and try to imitate. Monkey see, monkey do. Not trying to sound harsh here, but the 45 year old deserve to be tied up for 20 days to a rock and just have his diapers changed and see how he feels about it.

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