Woman pleads guilty to complicity in husband's fatal abuse of their daughter

Battered Wife syndrome is far too real, and I want to think that no mother would willingly refuse to care for their child.

I also believe the authorities as well were blind and should be put on trial for criminal negligence as well!

The mother told the court that when she tried to stop her husband from abusing Mia she was "grabbed by the collar, forced down on the floor and assaulted" by him.

One time her husband straddled her and forced a blanket into her month, she said.

Asked if she was a victim of domestic violence, she said, "I didn't think I was then, but as I look back now, I may have been."

Asking the obvious, but she didnt know the difference? I dont know the details of her upbringing but I will bet any money she was abused as a child as well. Even in this age of "information" people are blind to reality!

Hopefully her short sentence also includes her testimony against her husband, so he never sees another day outside of prison.

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@ Random.

Agreed !

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@ Yubaru " Battered Wife syndrome is far too real..."

VERY True.

And your point re: the culpability of 'authorities' - which include, the professionals at the girl's school, social welfare, and police - is point on.

In US, Canada Australia etc the partner of the abusing parent is typically often charged for negligence (for not removing the child, or getting help).

However these countries have strong criminal code with respect to child abuse, violence against women, Women/Children shelters, and social welfare intervention & support initiatives.

Japan Does NOT have a robust Family Violence Safety net or any viable nation-wide programs where these women ( mostly ) can find refuge, advocacy and intervention.

There's a whole piece missing in terms of where these kids and women can find help !!!!!

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The more i hear from this story.. the more it make me sick, she could have run with her away from this guy. Calling friends for help.

The more i hear from this story.. the more it make me sick, she could have run with her away from this guy. Calling friends for help.

You know little about how Japanese deal with family related issues. I can personally attest to that fact from experience of taking care of my elderly in-laws for nearly 20 years.

People here (most assuredly) do not "share" their problems openly, and calling friends for help would not be anywhere on the list of people to share her problems with.

It's far to easy to just say she could have done this or that, but unless you walked in her shoes, as a Japanese mother, and wife, it's very hard to criticize her inaction.

2 results NEED to happen from this case.

The father should get a long, long sentence. Life would be best but he probably won't get it. People need to learn that child abuse is no joke and not something you pay a fine for and walk away.

The city hall staff that gave the confidential questionnaire from the daughter to her parents needs to be fired and blacklisted from ever getting another civil servant job. What use are these people if the public can't trust them?

Why aren't the social services and education board on trial as well? If the Mother is already in court this week?

The Mother was attacked and abused and threatened by that monster and she was stuck in a dependent relationship. The Mother already had evidence that social services and the police would not help her if she did report.

Social services and the education board should have been arrested and put in court before the Mother.

I hope the husband rots in jail.

The father is clearly the main instigator in all this but the wife also share a lot of blame as well I they BOTH get their proper share of jail time! Lets not forget she IS admitting some guilt, assuming she wasn't forced to admit said guilt, which sadly is also possible here!!

Overall Japanese society & it "ways" are also HIGHLY responsible for societies failure to take care of its most vulnerable, it CHILDREN!!

Why isn't the Mothers lawyer proving that the Mother had evidence that reporting would go nowhere?

Surely there is sufficient evidence already (total failure by social services, the education board, and the police) to prove that the Mother knew it would be a complete waste of time reporting him, and would only lead to more abuse and attacks.

The Mother is going to be jailed for being complicit by not reporting him, but surely he already was reported previously and nothing happened.

In most western countries she would be freed. The Mother is taking the hit for the establishment in Japan.

the silent partner

man, is that sad

which is worse? the abuse or the complicity?

stormcrow and GW, not condoning the Mother completely, but as I have said, the husband already was reported to authorities. And the daughter already was taken into care. I don't understand how the authorities are covering up their total failures and sentencing the Mother for something that was already done?

@TigersTokyoDome

Not condoning the parties you've mentioned, but a mother's duty is to fight to the death for the safety of her children. That's why you stay the hell away from a mother bear and her cubs. If it's good enough for the animal kingdom . . . well

He needs a sentence of at least 20 years to set an example for all the abusers out there.

Many instant accusations against the Mother here. Not a jot about the authorities.

storm, with all due respect, this is not the animal kingdom. Japan is supposed to have social services, the police, and education authorities in place. In Japan these Mothers know they are just creating further abuse if they report and it creates more problems and no resolution.

The husband was previously reported and the wife was beaten and abused too.

The establishment in Japan are putting the hit on the Mother to cover up its gross failings.

Is there actually any evidence that she was abused? Or is she just using that as an excuse for allowing her daughter to be abused. If there is no evidence all she is providing is a statement against penal interest...saving her own backside.

Yet more anti-Mother accusations here. Seems like some posters have a deep mistrust of women.

Does anyone have any opinion on the fact that the education board passed a copy of the daughters accusation to the accused father? Or that the social services completely failed to visit the home? Or everyone just wants to have a field day on the Mother?

Complicity can never ever be worse than the abuse. Or than authorities failing to protect.

@Dadude - The city hall staff that gave the confidential questionnaire from the daughter to her parents needs to be fired

It was staff at the school.

I don't think anyone has been anti-mother. Other than her own statement, has there been any testimony from a friend or family member about abuse? Any trips to the ER? I'm sure his legal team will label her as a co-conspirator rather than a victim.

Send this "Killer" to Jail for the rest of his life!

The wrong headed staff that gave the confidential questionnaire from the daughter to her parents needs to be fired ASAP.

@TigersTokyoDome

I suppose I am a bit biased in my views regarding the role of the mother in her duties as a caregiver.

Years ago, I knew a man who fell in love with and married a girl who had been sexually abused by her father continuously for many years. This man was angrier at the mother than the father for allowing it to happen and by failing to prevent the sexual abuse over the course of many years instead chose to be the silent partner.

He told me that the sexual abuse inflicted by the father was impossible to understand, but the fact that the mother stood by and did nothing was, he told me, even more impossible to understand.

Many people are complicit in this tragic outcome, a case of child abuse that should not have ended in such a tragedy. The common factor that links all the guilty parties is their socialization into passivity through strict schooling and the vertical structure of Japanese society which produces individuals who are psychologically beaten down and unable to resist bullying by authority figures. Challenging and changing these damaging cultural traits is going to be a long and painful task that only the future generations of young Japanese will be able to accomplish.

There is something about that picture of the little girl that still haunts me.

So sweet and treated to badly by her father and mother.

storm, maybe where you and I come from there are not many excuses for the Mother not to report this, because we have fairly reasonable authorities who act when it is reported. But there appears to be a problem in Japan and while I am in no way condoning the Mother, I do totally understand that many Japanese Mothers see that reporting is more problematic and nothing gets done (as in this case).

The way I see it is that if the Mother never laid a hand on her daughter (there is no evidence of this so far), then the authorities should be treated just as harshly as the Mother is now, if not more so. The Mother would have had dependency and power harassment. The authorities did not.

As for other posts accusing the Mother because she pleaded guilty, yeah right, We've seen with the Ghosn case just what pleading guilty in Japan entails..

I don't know, this is how all this reads to me:

Innocent child failed by BOTH parents & society is DEAD.

With the info we I would rank guilt as follows:

Father by for the most guilty

Then the mother, frankly I think too many posters seem willing to give her a full pass, to me she seems possibly guilty of a fair bit in this case, women far to often get softer sentences than they should JUST because of their gender & we see that playing out here as well.

Lastly J-society & authorities have clearly FAILED big time as well!

It’s like some people have never heard of domestic abuse and know nothing about it.

The way I see it is that if the Mother never laid a hand on her daughter (there is no evidence of this so far), then the authorities should be treated just as harshly as the Mother is now, if not more so. The Mother would have had dependency and power harassment. The authorities did not.

Sorry, but you are completely wrong here. There is no "mistrust of women" among the other comments, just common sense.

The mother was an adult. Moreover, and adult whose prime responsibility in life was to protect her daughter. Instead, she stood by for years as her daughter was tortured, sexually abused and finally murdered. Even if she never touched her daughter, she allowed her to suffer and die at the hands of a monster. She is a disgusting excuse for a human being. "Dependency" and power harassment" are just words. She could have fled anytime. Many women do. There are shelters for these women that offer them protection - sadly often used by women who haven't been abused at all but who are looking for a good divorce settlement. Two years in prison is a slap on the wrist.

The authorities do not have anywhere near the same moral responsibility as the mother. Of course, they screwed up. Horribly so. But not criminally so. Their actions were pathetic and they should live with shame the rest of their lives. But government employees are not the people who can be expected to care for children. They are just there for when the parents, who should be responsible, screw up. Government employees see 100s of cases a week, and are simply salaried employees who operate within a set framework, and who are often not very competent.

The mother never reported the abuse. Not even once. Nor did she flee to any of the many shelters available. Had she reported the abuse herself, there is no doubt that stronger action would have been taken, and the child might still be alive. However, maybe she can reform as a human being - which is more than I can say for the creature she married.

'Asked if she was a victim of domestic violence, she said, "I didn't think I was then, but as I look back now, I may have been."'

Yeah, now that you've been busted.

Prosecutors said that Nagisa aided and abetted in the abuse by allowing it to continue and refusing to feed Mia.

They also showed the court a Line app message that Nagisa sent to her husband.

“When I was sleeping, Mia tried to open the fridge without asking. Who does she think she is? Disgusting, isn’t it?” the message said.

Need I say more?

@TigersTokyoDome

Crime is a crime, or in this case rape is rape.

If you knew the same person was being repeatedly over the years, even if you had no relationship to the victim you would say something to the authorities, wouldn't you?

Add to that the fact that the victim is a child you don't know, or maybe even your own child. To ignore this and to do nothing to help the victim is inhumane.

This is sick to the stomach. All those people are sick in their head, including those from welfare center and the school. Don't give me that shoganai or shikatanai BS. 2 years for the monstress is way too short, at least a life sentence. And the monster father, death penalty. These are minimum sentences.

This is sick to the stomach. All those people are sick in their head, including those from welfare center and the school. Don't give me that shoganai or shikatanai BS. 2 years for the monstress is way too short, at least a life sentence. And the monster father, death penalty. These are minimum sentences.

I agree so much and I had to breeze through this story, it’s just too sick for me to read this in detail, as a father a person like that around me or my neighborhood would have to leave and very fast...

Absolutely disgusting, scum. He should never, ever see the light of day.

The true hero in this completely sick case is "that little girl"! May she rest in peace. She took every step to try to save herself even though the consequences of the actions she had taken in the past were absolutely brutal. She kept fighting til the end. Hopefully the powers that BE take up her fight....and put in some meaningful ways for authorities to step in when these situations become dire!