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A 73-year-old woman who was arrested on Jan 17 on suspicion of killing her 77-year-old sister has died after being found unconscious in her cell in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture.
According to police, the woman, Tsuyako Inoue, was found lying face-up in her cell in Kanuma police station at around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Fuji TV quoted police as saying that she had apparently stuffed a rice cake and small towel into her mouth and choked on it. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead early Monday morning.
Police said they haven't determined yet whether Inoue's death was a suicide or accident. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Inoue was arrested on suspicion of strangling her sister Emiko to death at their home in Utsunomiya over a financial dispute, local media reported.
© Japan Today
9 Comments
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Bartholomew Harte
It seems that there is so much despair among the elderly in Japan this may be the result of it.
sensei258
Do you seriously think that one of the prison staff went into an old woman's cell to murder her in the middle of the day when there's a limited numer of people who would have access, and with cameras it would be easy to tell who did it? But I guess it is possible if you have one very stupid Criminal.
Yubaru
Where did you hear that the person here was on suicide watch? If the article is to be believed, it's a hell of a lot easier to think that she was murdered.
Stuffing a rice cake into one's throat and then following it with a towel does not sound like the easiest way to strangle one's self. The human body has a strong will for preservation, and her natural instincts would be to attempt to spit anything blocking her airway out of her mouth, not put something else in to make it worse.
WA4TKG
Hmm, let me see...What's the OLDEST "Trick in the Book " to Choke someone ? ...stuff something in their throat.
Hawkeye
Japanese incarceration seems to have a problem with inmates suffocating so why are they given the tools to commit suicide or are the police wasting their inmates?
Disillusioned
Or a murder!
sensei258
As silly as this sounds, it's very possible, especially if she was suffering from dementia (I don;t know whether she was or not) and didn't recognize the danger of her actions
nedinjapan
You cannot make sense of it unless you realize the role of money (yen) in Japanese culture/society. Almost everything including family relations revolves around money. A dispute over financial issues is a serious one. Whether one kills, hires a lawyer, a hitman, or commits suicide or goes silent with sever depression, is just a secondary thing.
thepersoniamnow
Excuse me, but suicide by rice cake and towel in the mouth is a little suspicious don't you think? In prison when people are on suicide watch they usually can't kill themselves with food and a towel. Can I assume she has a nose with a windpipe connected to it?