crime

Man arrested for leaving mother’s corpse at home after her death in February

17 Comments

Police in Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, have arrested an unemployed 50-year-old man on suspicion of abandoning a body after the corpse of his 85-year-old mother was found at their home.

According to police, Minoru Ishikawa is accused of abandoning the body of his mother Uta in the living room of their residence after she died in February, Fuji TV reported Monday.

Police said the woman's remains were discovered on Sept 9 when Ishikawa’s relatives visited his home. He told them his mother had died of natural causes in February and that he had kept her body in a kotatsu in the first-floor living room.

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17 Comments
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Funerals are big business in Japan, more than a months salary for some.... I don't think this guy should have been arrested because he couldn't afford a funeral.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

By law a Body has to be cremated within a certain period of time.

As has been pointed out many times the cremation is not that expensive and City-Hall will assist if contacted.

Often funerals(optional) are held at different times to the cremation.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@gogogo

He told them his mother had died of natural causes in February

Maybe he didn't declare her death so the pension money would keep on coming.

The article is not very clear though.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Why didn't he tell relatives that she died? I bet he was still collecting the pension.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Norman Bates?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Forgot to mention.

The cremation period is 2-3 days (can't recall exactly), reason for that is that embalming is not common here like in other countries.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I agree with the others, either he was using her pension, or something to do with her death.

How could you do that to your own mother? Then you're living with her rotting in the living room? There's something wrong with that guy.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

He's unemployed, in his fifties, and was living with his mother; nobody else was bothered to swing by and visit, obviously. They have been on their own for who knows how long. This is not a simple case of fraud.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Maybe he didn't declare her death so the pension money would keep on coming.

Which was not so rare until a few years back when it was discovered that some municipal offices were paying money for 150 year old resident! The municipalities are finally getting off their butts and making sure that the people they are paying pensions to are still living!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I disagree. His mother died and he didn't tell anyone else in is family? There's a red flag right there, unless he's developmentally disabled or has some kind of mental illness. Even if he was acting as the sole caregiver, there's no excuse once she passes for not telling the family.

Admittedly, the fact that no one else in the family checked for several months is sad.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Maybe he noticed no change in their relationship?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The cremation period is 2-3 days (can't recall exactly), reason for that is that embalming is not common here like in other countries.

At the Japanese funeral I went to cremation took 2-3 hours. Afterwards we got to put the still-warm remains into an urn using tongs.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Imagine the stench!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

He told them his mother had died of natural causes in February and that he had kept her body in a kotatsu in the first-floor living room.

And, he kept receiving her pension, of course.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

human mind is complicate to really know what he was thinking, may be can't let go since she was living with him, and now being alone. felt sad for both of them.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Maybe she was his caregiver.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This type of thing happens a lot in Japan due to poor information about what to do in this situation. People with no money cannot afford the cost of a Japanese funeral ceremony because it can run in the millions. They cannot just go out and bury the body secretly because they can get into a lot more trouble, thus leaving them with the only option: keep the body home. They also don't think its a problem if they do this.

Also, there was no mention about him taking her pension, lest we not make speculations.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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