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crime

Man arrested for killing mother by scalding her with boiling water

21 Comments

Police in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, have arrested a 64-year-old man on suspicion of killing his 85-year-old mother by scalding her with boiling water.

According to police, Hidetaka Chijimatsu poured boiling water on his mother Keiko’s neck and chest sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 2 a.m. Monday, Kyodo News reported. On Monday morning, he called his younger brother and told him what he had done and his brother contacted police. Keiko was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Chijimatsu lived alone with his mother who had a leg disability and was bedridden. Though a caregiver came a few days a week, Chijimatsu was mostly looking after his mother. He was quoted by police as saying he felt frustrated.

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21 Comments
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Good god! That is a shocking story.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

No decent human being would do this. I pray for the mother, may she find peace and comfort in the afterlife. As for the son, may God have mercy on his soul.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Not done as a result of anger. Done as a result of evil

4 ( +6 / -2 )

now HE's the one in hot water !

1 ( +5 / -4 )

ToshihiroToday  08:48 am JST

No decent human being would do this. I pray for the mother, may she find peace and comfort in the afterlife. As for the son, may God have mercy on his soul.

AlongfortherideToday  09:20 am JST

Not done as a result of anger. Done as a result of evil

Let the judgements begin. We don't know enough about this situation. While terrible, horrible and shocking, This man was taking care of his mother 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and maybe without even a break. or respite. This man was being a 24-hour-a-day nurse, while his brother lived somewhere else with no burden.

The man should have had an assessment of HIS NEEDS. The system failed him and ultimately his mother. Who here can be a 24-hour-a-day nurse, and NOT get frustrated? Even REAL NURSES get a day few days off, and get paid for it. If it's hard to take care of a new born baby that is dependent on you for everything. just imagine doing the same thing but everything on an adult size. Including toileting, changing diapers,emptying a commode, possible incontinence, bed wetting, and feeding. Not to mention lifting and Dressing your mother. A care giver came a couple of times a week. That is nothing. We hear of women getting depressed looking after their kids, well adults can reach the end of their tether too. Yes, it's terrible, awful, but if the CAREGIVER who visited, was trained to watch out for the carer too. If there was more than that, maybe this could have been prevented. We need to look at the time BEFORE this incident and intervene to help the carer and the patient. People who care can feel as though they must power through it all, and men who may have no social support structure post-work, are especially at risk because they also are the least likely to say. HELP I AM STRUGGLING, and their mates and their colleagues don't want to listen to his life problems, as they move on in their life. So isolation can be a problem. So no! It was not a result of evil. It was the result of poor care planning, along with other factors. I guess saying it's evil, is so simple. And I wonder, how long he was caring for his mother for. The article doesn't say.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Let the judgements begin. We don't know enough about this situation.

A woman was scalded to death with boiling water by her son. That is all I need to know. Even if you try to justify murder, there are more humane and sane ways of doing it.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

Let the judgement's begin...............................I am not sitting in judgment but looking at the brutal facts of this callous, evil, murder. I am sorry, but I just cannot imagine how warped and twisted a person must be to even think of doing this. There is absolutely NO excuse for it.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Selfish or what.

She looked after him since he was a child and probably until she became bed ridden.

Karma karma coming to get you.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

He’s a monster and needs putting a way for a very long time

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Abe, reasoning for why the man may have wanted to kill his mother has nothing...absolutely nothing...with the horrific choice of scalding her. I would agree the system is a whole lot to blame for mental problems in this country.

That is another subject, and has a whole lot to do with Japanese culture and reticence to move quickly and change things that should be done. There are a bevy of subjects on this matter, and no doubt, Japan's own intolerance toward quick action and lack of foresight hurts her greatly.

But no doubt, this guy is sociopathic(read cannot feel empathy) and stupidly unaware and uncaring to scald his mother to death.

Can you imagine the pain he inflicted on her? I can, and this is 100% inhumane and the act of a monster.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Keio was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A “k” is missing here. This is the high school that won the high school national tournament.

Moderator: Thanks for spotting that. It has been corrected.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

His act is evil but he doesn’t want to be a slave to elderly care anymore. It’s no different than a mother of a coin locker baby.

These are the products of the Japanese society and welfare system. You judge a society by how it takes care of the weak.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

@ quercetum

"You judge a society by how it takes care of the weak."

Well said, well said indeed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

An appalling way to die/kill someone.

While I can to an extent understand the frustration and desperation underlying this and they should never have been allowed to get to this situation and Japanese society and government policy is undoubtedly in part to blame; yet the method he actively chose to use requires for thought and preparation so was not a spur of the moment eruption.

The cruelty of the method chosen evidences a degree of what can only be described as evil in his actions.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

sunfunbunToday  01:43 pm JST

Abe, reasoning for why the man may have wanted to kill his mother has nothing...absolutely nothing...with the horrific choice of scalding her. I would agree the system is a whole lot to blame for mental problems in this country. 

That is another subject, and has a whole lot to do with Japanese culture and reticence to move quickly and change things that should be done. There are a bevy of subjects on this matter, and no doubt, Japan's own intolerance toward quick action and lack of foresight hurts her greatly.

But no doubt, this guy is sociopathic(read cannot feel empathy) and stupidly unaware and uncaring to scald his mother to death. 

Can you imagine the pain he inflicted on her? I can, and this is 100% inhumane and the act of a monster.

It has everything to do with it if we want to prevent another case in the future and it will happen if the care and planning aren't changed. I am most certainly not dismissing the pain or horror of what happened. What I am trying to shed light on is the situation many may find themselves in. Under no circumstances am i saying what he did is understandable. But I am pointing out the difficulties men on their own, with no support network, being a 24-hour-a-day nurse is under. Of course, we can understand the pain he inflicted. And if you agree the system was partly to blame. then as a society that is graying should ask the central government to stop this from happening again. EG why wasn't this man assessed? Was he offered a respite? Were there respite beds available for her? and NO! he is not a sociopath. Unless you have the diagnosis papers! That is completely different and is a word just banded about by people and the media.

IchigoToday  11:28 am JST

A woman was scalded to death with boiling water by her son. That is all I need to know. Even if you try to justify murder, there are more humane and sane ways of doing it.

If that is all you need to know, Fine! but it's not what the carers who are struggling today need, is it? And nobody is justifying it. Absolutely not. It's about being aware of the failings of the system, IF WE WANT PENSIONERS TO LOOK AFTER PENSIONERS. Single mothers get more support looking after a 3 year old than a 65-year-old looking after a 85-year-old.

So let's be clear what he did was terrible, awful. Absolutely! You and I don't know enough about this case. But one thing is, they were both failed by the system.

englisc aspyrgendToday  07:33 pm JST

An appalling way to die/kill someone. 

While I can to an extent understand the frustration and desperation underlying this and they should never have been allowed to get to this situation and Japanese society and government policy is undoubtedly in part to blame;

Totally agree with this.  OUr aim should be to prevent the next one.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Abe234 No need to judge! Did you miss part of the story below? What we do know is you failed to read a the full story and let the fingers think for you based on your report. According to your post there was no caregiver as reported that came a few days a week.

Chijimatsu lived alone with his mother who had a leg disability and was bedridden. Though a caregiver came a few days a week, Chijimatsu was mostly looking after his mother. He was quoted by police as saying he felt frustrated.

Let the judgements begin. We don't know enough about this situation. While terrible, horrible and shocking, This man was taking care of his mother 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and maybe without even a break. or respite. This man was being a 24-hour-a-day nurse, while his brother lived somewhere else with no burden.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The inadequate welfare provided by the profit-oriented LDP government must also be a background player in this domestic tragedy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

NO! he is not a sociopath.

The definition of a sociopath is:

a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

Of course, this is a matter of opinion, but if a person scalds his own mother to her death, shows zero social conscience. The reason why he did what he did because he needs help is irrelevant to an action that speaks to being a sociopathic type individual.

Descriptions of a sociopath. Perhaps unproven in your mind due to enabling his action by way of saying he does not show sociopathic behavior, but evidence of his murder and method says to me, he shows a great deal of sociopathic behavior.

Openly shows that they do not care how others feel.

Displays hot-headedness and are impulsive.

Often gives in to fits and tantrums.

Rationalize wrong behavior.

Having difficulty in maintaining emotional attachments.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@sunfunbunToday 09:04 am JST

a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

If he literally lacks a sense of moral responsibility, he won't even have tried to take care of the bedridden mother. He would have dumped her before anyone can even think he had any duty to sustain her existence.

I think Abe's basic point is sound. It's nice to think that we wouldn't have done it, but only a very small portion of the general population (unfortunate parents that take care of permanently bedridden kids for years on end, for example) would have analogical experiences such that they can have honest confidence when declaring they won't have done it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Another day, another family murder. I hope he doesn't get "frustrated" in prison.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Kazuaki, I don't believe having a sense of responsibility is mutually exclusive to the actions of scalding his mother to the idea he is showing sociopathic behavior.

The definition and characteristics of being sociopathic hold firm on his action toward his mother. He could have found other ways to try a euthanasia type of death, but chose a cruel form, one that most definitely was excruciatingly painful. He is a monster.

His motives are guilt or whatever the reasoning he took care of his mother does not balance the inhumanity of scalding her.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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