A 52-year-old Iranian man poured a flammable liquid over his 36-year-old common-law Filipino wife, and then ignited it, causing both of them to suffer severe burns all over their bodies, in a restaurant in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Friday.
According to police, the incident occurred just before 3 p.m. in a Saizeriya family restaurant located in the JR Tsuchiura Station building. Fuji TV reported that the couple, who had been living apart, were heard arguing loudly over the custody of their child when the man suddenly poured a liquid from a small coffee can over the woman. He ignited it with a lighter and the flames also engulfed him.
Police said both the man and woman remained unconscious in hospital on Saturday.
No other diners in the restaurant were injured, Fuji reported.
Police said that the woman had consulted with them in October after the man threatened to kill her if she didn't allow him to see their child. But she declined to file a formal criminal complaint. Police said they issued the man a verbal warning and also advised the woman not to see or contact her estranged partner in any way.
© Japan Today
29 Comments
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Goodlucktoyou
This is why I never go to Saizeriya.
Mlodinow
I didn't know Japan allowed common law marriages?
trinklets2
There's no legal bearing in common law marriages. It's merely living together. there could be two scenario. Both could be illegal residents. Or that the woman could be previously married to a Japanese. But I'm inclined to believe in the latter since no illegal would ever consult the police. If both have no impediments, then there's no reason why they could remain as common law other than looking for a better hook up.
Haaa Nemui
Call me what you will but I hope the guy drops dead from his injuries. No room at all for this sort of behavior.
gogogo
Could have been resolved easier with duel custody. But the other issue is that they were not married so by JP law he is not the father.
sensei258
Turn about is fair play
Chop Chop
Mlodinow. I didn't know Japan allowed common law marriages?
Mlodinow. Perhaps, they were illegal alien or illegal migrant in this country. They both are foreigners and they can not get a marriage license and register at city's council. However, their friends and community have recognized them as wife and husband. I believe that’s why JT has described as common law wife in polite term.
5SpeedRacer5
"Could have been resolved easier with duel custody. "
I would say this was a case of "duel" custody.
smithinjapan
Again, and again, and again.... people, if you're going to try and take yourself out, PLEASE do not insist you try and take others with you. As for the police on this one, well done again. Perhaps we'll hear about the police doing something right about stalking and attempted murder BEFORE there are bodies (or soon to be). Even if the woman recovers (couldn't care less about the man, although if he does I hope it's in prison for life), she is going to suffer for the rest of her life, and likely won't be able to take care of her child for a very long time. What a selfish, pathetic man.
Haaa Nemui
If the guy happens to survive then I hope he is deported along with a big tattoo of something denouncing the Muslim faith.
Disillusioned
I read the news flash yesterday afternoon and it only said "foreigner". I immediately said to myself, "I bet he's from the middle east." I hate being right!
Yoshitsune
The way the article describes it, it sounds like he wasn't even trying to take himself out - it sounds more like a murder attempt in which he accidentally also burned himself. Utterly pathetic either way, of course.
Disillusioned
And, there's the dark side of not having any joint custody laws. Of course, death threats are not gonna give you visitation rights to your kid/s, but I can attest that, being totally cut off from one's kids for no reason other than 'she can' does create a very stressful and intensely emotional situation that many fathers cannot deal with, just like this one.
Lost-in-Nagoya
They could have married in one of their respective embassies and then sunmit the wedding certificate to the local city hall. I bet she was denying him visits because he could flee to Iran with the child. Hope they recover soon.
Sherman
The poor child in question is more important than anything these two. I would be happy to welcome him or her to my safe and loving family. God help the child.
Hanatsuki
"Turn about is fair play" What the actual heck?!?!? o_0
Stewart Gale
Sick bastard.
MsDelicious
Who put out the fire?
Chinchan Zu
Strangerland
Nothing like confirmation bias to make a person feel better about their day.
dcog9065
Well I think he's gotten what he deserves, permanent burn mutilations to his body, and extreme pain for the future while in jail. What sort of animal attempts to murder someone by burning them to death?
SenseNotSoCommon
Mrs Sense informs me that she had attacked him, and that he's now dead.
turbotsat
Wouldn't especially take google translate's word over Mrs. Sense's, as GT of Japanese generally looks weird as heck, but the JT article says he attacked her, and google translate of a Japanese article says:
SenseNotSoCommon
Thanks, turbotsat
The google translate is doing its job OK for your article. I don't have a link to the source, but Mrs Sense adds that he was hitting her, and that she retaliated by dousing and setting fire to him.
Moderator
That is incorrect. The man, who has since died, doused the liquid on the woman.
Thunderbird2
Oh come on... at least send a copper round to have a look. If a woman (or a man) comes to the police saying they've been threatened I'm pretty sure most police forces would have sent a police officer round to question the bloke anyway, 'just for their records'.
Either way, I'm glad he's dead, and I hope she can make a recovery.
Patrick Kimura-Macke
So, what does a man do if he is not allowed to see his children? And what happens to him?