Police in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, have arrested an unemployed 39-year-old woman on suspicion of killing her one-year-old daughter at their home on Monday.
According to police, the woman, Kazuko Kumai, used a thin cord to strangle her second-eldest daughter Rika at around 11:30 a.m. Monday, Fuji TV reported. Kumai's husband, who was at work, told police he had been worried about his wife's depressed state of mind recently and that when he called her to see if she was OK, she told him she had strangled Rika. He then called 119.
Police rushed to the apartment and found Rika in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest. She was taken to hospital where she was confirmed dead.
© Japan Today
26 Comments
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sensei258
Words escape me. Apparently she's not well, but that doesn't excuse what she did. Unfortunately the judge won't see it that way.
Disillusioned
That' a family murder every day since mid-december!
Mike L
I really think I might stop reading the news.....................
Daniel Naumoff
Everyone should start worrying now, that if their "significant other" is showing any signs of depression or other kind of uneaseness they should try real hard to prevent further escalation or restrain them. No way to prevent this otherwise. As if no one cares that this happens on daily basis...
serendipitous
So her 'second eldest' daughter was 1 year old. If so she must have a recently born baby as well. She obviously couldn't wasn't handling motherhood and if the husband knew there were warning signs, he should have got some support from somewhere. Not an excuse for killing but people have to know when the warning signs are serious.
Peter Qinghai
It truly is criminal how 'mental illness' is not treated in this country.
Who's to blame? Who cares.
This is one less child that will grow up to, hopefully, get this country back on its feet.
oikawa
Don't know about serendipitous but I would say it's because if there are two children you don't refer to the younger one as the second oldest. They would be the "younger child" or "youngest child" if there were more than two. Saying "second eldest " implies there are another one or two children born after her.
TokyoSince1983
oikawa
Thanks for clarifying that. I could not fathom what that meant.
TheGodfather
"an awkward translation of 次女 (jijo), second born daughter"
She was hoping for a boy this time, so bye-bye Rika. Send the mother to jail!!!
smithinjapan
Lock her up, for good. Please please PLEASE don't suggest a lighter sentence because there is another child who 'needs its mother'.
Tamarama
Nice, Smith.
Mental illness makes people do things they wouldn't even consider in a normal state of mind. Be it jumping to their death, infanticide, whatever. And you can have an episode of mental illness and completely recover from it.
But, she needed proper help, and didn't get it, and something tragic has occurred as a result. It's terrible.
She needs help, not jail.
chisineko
Any one examining cultural forces operating to encourage a feeling of hopelessness? Lack of social support, and a failure to perceive a purpose might be operating here.
TrevorPeace
Why does everyone think society as a whole should accept responsibility for the actions of an irresponsible and delusional woman who gave birth to a child and then killed it? And don't go on about how her husband should have seen 'the signs' of her problem. Yes, she needs mental illness help, but she also needs jail time, just to straighten out her sense of selfishness. Sorry, all you bleeding hearts, but killing a baby just isn't forgivable, at least in my mind.
sensei258
I feel bad for the father, who didn't predict this happening. He's lost two people really, and has to worry about the other child.
fishy
"
Not when it's just an awkward translation of 次女 (jijo), second born daughter, or second eldest daughter.
Agree with Educator60. Because in Japanese news, it simply says 次女 (jijo), Unless JT has more information than what's on J-news.
Moderator
The woman only has two children.
tmarie
I love how women are "stay at home mothers" when the news is positive but becomes "unemployed" if they've done something bad. :(
Poor kid. Poor husband. And poor other child. Japan NEEDS to step up and start helping mothers with the stress of having kids. I am certainly not going to excuse this mom but the woman has a one year old and at least two others, one being younger than the one she killed? Not easy. More so if she has a husband who works like an average salaryman.
rocketpanda
This is happening far too often, the government's alarms bells should be ringing.
fishy
tmarie -
I think this woman has total 2 kids. One that she killed and one that's older than this baby who was killed.
Aly Rustom
Mike, buddy, I was thinking the exact same thing. My whole damn day is ruined after reading this. Hearing about the fates of children like this one breaks my heart as I think about how much my wife and I dot over our 1and 3month year old. Infanticide is the hardest to read about of all.
smithinjapan
Tamarama: "Nice, Smith.
Mental illness makes people do things they wouldn't even consider in a normal state of mind. Be it jumping to their death, infanticide, whatever. And you can have an episode of mental illness and completely recover from it. "
Sorry, Tamarama, you may be so forgiving you'll forgive infanticide and the murder of your own family as, "just one of those things", but I don't. THere are lost of people with mental illness and stress issues who do not murder their family. If you want to argue the lack of social services and support, I'm right there with you, but blaming that only and not the people who kill is one of the reasons why it keeps on happening.
RIP to the girl. ZERO sympathy for the child murderer -- and no matter how much you guys might sympathize with her, that is what she is. Lock her up, for life.
Shinjuku 108
100% agree and couldn't have said it better myself.
sir_bentley28
I live in Shunan literally right across from this incident. So sad.
oikawa
Depression doesn't make you kill others.
Educator60, I know it was a dodgy translation, I was explaining the English connotations to you.