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Police in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, have arrested an unemployed 54-year-old man on suspicion of abandoning the body of his 83-year-old mother at their home. A
According to police, the man discovered his mother dead in her bedroom on May 2 but failed to contact the police, Sankei Shimbun reported. His daughter visited his home on May 11 and contacted police after finding her grandmother’s body.
Police said there were no visible signs of trauma on the corpse. Her son told police she died of natural causes but an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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Strangerland
It's a translation issue. In Japanese, it relates to the abandonment of responsibility in regards to a body. We wouldn't use the word that way in English, but it is how it is used in Japanese.
kurisupisu
Right, how can it possible to abandon someone or something in one’s home?
And why would police actually want to charge anybody other the death of a family member except in suspicious circumstances?
bokuda
23 days of solitary confinement for abandonment. Another 23 days for hiding a corpse. Another 23 for intent of murder....
Until he confesses, then prison.
Kumagaijin
abandoned /əˈband(ə)nd/ adj.
Thats a good point. The man hadn't abandoned his mother's body. Quite the opposite.
JerseyDevil
@ No BusinessToday
"Not a day goes by without a corpse-in-the-house story here."
and the place is lit up with apparitions, IMO
smithinjapan
I simply can't understand why you wouldn't report the death of someone and at least have the body collected. I understand if it was to continue to collect pension/welfare money or something, but there is no way he could have gotten anything in such a short time. I don't think this was some elaborate plot.
Luddite
This seems to be a common thing. It’s terrible.
HBJ
This is clearly an issue that the authorities have yet to find a serious way of addressing. Why do people do this to loved ones? Is it the costs required for funerals? Is it a lack of understanding about what to do after someone dies? Is it the intention to keep getting pension payments? Is it largely people with underlying mental problems - what are these problems?
That's quite a sobering thought.
Spitfire
No Business.....you are spot on.
For such a safe place Japan sure does have a lot of 'in-house'deaths going on.
No Business
Not a day goes by without a corpse-in-the-house story here.
sensei258
Unemployed, middle-aged, and living with your elderly mother sucking up her pension. Nice. I bet he was waiting for her next pension payment before he reported her death