crime

Chiba woman jailed for 7 years for killing 13-year-old daughter

14 Comments

The Tokyo District Court on Friday upheld a ruling that sentenced a 44-year-old woman to seven years in prison for strangling her 13-year-old daughter in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.

The court upheld the sentence handed down by the Chiba District Court, ruling that Mika Matsutani, a part-time worker, strangled her daughter Kasumi to death at their apartment last year. Matsutani told police that she had intended to kill herself after killing her daughter but couldn't go through with it, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Matsutani had defaulted on her home payment approximately three years ago, and had been having difficulty making ends meet ever since, a police spokesman said. She and her daughter had been ordered to vacate the premises by Sept 24, 2014.

When representatives from the Chiba District Court arrived at the apartment to see them out, they found Kasumi dead, lying face up a futon.

Prosecutors had sought a 14-year prison term for Matsutani but her lawyers argued that she was mentally unbalanced when she killed her daughter.

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14 Comments
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I came to Japan in early August of '14, working at three schools, and that girl was a student at one of my schools. I'm glad I never met the "mother."

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I am amazed that this mother only got 7 years and not the death penalty for this heinous crime.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" she had intended to kill herself after killing her daughter but couldn’t go through with it, "

Oh, but she could go through with killing a child? Any excuses should stop right there.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Let's hope she does not decide to have another child.

At 44 years old, with seven years in jail ahead of her, it's not likely she could if she wanted to.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Unseen force or not you always the right to say no, it's called free will. This woman chose to kill her own daughter and will have to live with that fact where ever she is. Let's hope she does not decide to have another child.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

May her gentle soul rest in peace, poor little girl.i think the mother must have been going through some psychological stress for sometime now but i just hope and pray also for her .she may not have killed her daughter with her real mind.i think some unforseen forces pushed her .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Matsutani told police that she had intended to kill herself after killing her daughter but couldn’t go through with it."

She should have tried it the other way around. Kill herself first, and if she succeeded, no worries for the poor daughter. Selfish baba

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Messed up, I wouldn't be surprised if WANTED a life sentence to put a roof over her head!

7yrs............for some people that will likely motivate them to kill people.........messed up!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

what heinous crime does one have to commit to get life in prison in Japan? I have absolutely no faith in the J-Justice system...she should have definitely gotten life....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

her lawyers argued that she was mentally unbalanced when she killed her daughter.

Hell, I could have told you that. I agree with turbostat

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Appalling!! Shame on the public prosecutor!! An unacceptably light sentence for strangling a minor child to death. In the US she would be on death row in many states. At a minimum she would get life in prison without the possibility of parole. She should be made to rot in jail.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

"Matsutani... had intended to kill herself after killing her daughter but couldn’t go through with it"

So yes, @zones2surf your conclusion is correct. In Japan "you can murder someone and do very little time prison" and that's if you even go to prison at all!! ;-)

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I will never understand light sentences like this. 7 years is an injustice. Even the original 14 years sought by the prosecutors could be considered a very light sentence. I get the idea of mitigating circumstances and all of that, but this just reinforces the message that if you have "sad" circumstances, you can murder someone and do very little time prison.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Finetuning justice such that she only gets 7 years. There's no reason to ever let her out.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

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