crime

68-year-old woman arrested over murder of bedridden 46-year-old daughter

20 Comments

Police in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, have arrested a 68-year-old woman on suspicion of killing her 48-year-old bedridden daughter at their home.

According to police, Ayako Yamada suffocated her daughter Megumi while she slept by placing cellophane tightly over her face, and also strangled her, early Wednesday morning, NHK reported. Yamada went to a police station at around 2 a.m. and said she had killed her daughter.

Megumi was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Yamada and her daughter lived alone. Yamada was quoted by police as saying she was worn out from looking after her daughter who had become bedridden.

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20 Comments
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Terribly sad ending to another family. Overwhelmed yet, most likely, overlooked by a government lax in providing adequate extended, support systems for Japan’s rarely reported 15% living in poverty.

15 ( +17 / -2 )

Sad story

To see your close family members bedridden with no hope

13 ( +16 / -3 )

Where were the caregivers to assist the mother? Unless a social system is setup to support caregivers, incidents like this one will be occurring more frequently.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

Lots of commenters calling for more gov support. What kind of "support"?

Caregiver assistance. Affordable caregiver assistance. Check ups with social services. Transparency about the availability of these services. Transparency and options for moving the bedridden patient to a dedicated care facility. Financial support - where are the taxpayers' money going if not to situations like this? Free training programs and lectures about how to care for ill and bedridden family members. Accessible and readily available mental health services to prep and deal with the inevitable burnout.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

I'm used to hearing about spouses and children killing their bedridden parents or partners on almost a daily basis here.

But somehow, the killing of a daughter by her own mother is somehow more mortifying on a different level.

8 ( +15 / -7 )

Jalapeno - Lots of commenters calling for more gov support. What kind of "support"?

Affordable nursing care for starters. People in Japan pay crazy amounts of health insurance and pension, but receive very little for their investment. There are some private companies that do nursing care for the elderly and ailing but they are not subsidized by the government and are ridiculously expensive.

Too many people are destined to become full time carers for ailing relatives because the government will not provide nursing care for them. I’ve known many people who will openly state they are just waiting for their ailing relative to die so they can get their life back. this is a scenario that should not happen in a developed country that prides itself in being rich and caring for the elderly

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Not sure if there are no social services to help or if people just don't seek such help. Whichever it may be, these stories come with shocking frequency.

Both. Japan lacks services for these situations and doesn't actively promote the existence of the services they do have so people often don't know where and how to ask for help. That combined with thd fact that the local people have been socially conditioned to not ask for help because they don't want to be a bother results in tragedies like this.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Again and again and again! This time the scenario is reversed with a parent killing a bedridden child. It's common knowledge that the Japanese government does very little to support these people who become full time carers. This kind of event happens a couple of times a month and has done for decades, but nothing has changed to give support to these people. Just another example of the ignorant government in a self-proclaimed 'rich country'.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

The heartbreak of seeing the life go out of the eyes of someone you brought into the world. This story is so painful to read.

Like other posters have written, put more of our hard earned tax payers' money towards care for invalids, the elderly and mentally challenged and those who have to care for them.

Maybe it's time we take some of the law makers' average salary of 29.24 million yen (~$230,000) and put some of it toward these poor unfortunate people. Politicians, step up and DO something.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Not sure if there are no social services to help or if people just don't seek such help. Whichever it may be, these stories come with shocking frequency.

4 ( +11 / -7 )

No more money nor people to provide assistance.

That is what happens when demography is failing.

Can you force people to work as a caregiver ?

There are millions now needing assistance.

Sadly, this is just a taste of what is coming because in a few years more than a million per year less inhabitants while over largely 30% aged over 65 years meaning not able to take care of anyone on the long term.

Shikata ga nai.

RIP

Humans are animals that can kill out of love.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

It doesn't help that the Japanese govt. made it so damn hard to be a nurse from overseas to be able to live and work here. The really hard kanji reading and writing requirement had an over 90% failure rate by the Philippina and Indonesian applicants who were here and took the tests.

We constantly read and hear about the shortage of nursing personnel. This is why I wrote for the govt. to DO something. They pay little and they're constantly sabotaging possible fixes for these problems like the ex. I've written above.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's patently obvious that we need proper immigration: not piecemeal, disposable guest worker programmes.

Yes, Japan will change in character, but the alternative doesn't bear thinking.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Jonathan Prin,

You are on the money once again.

I couldn't agree more with you.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Lots of commenters calling for more gov support. What kind of "support"?

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

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