Mother who left dead baby in train station locker gets suspended sentence

That pure BS. How the hell do you know the baby was stillborn months after it was dead? Did you just take her word for it?

Forensic science. It's pretty interesting stuff, provides evidence so you don't just have to take someone's word for it. It's worth a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_science

The usual angry mob out in force, I see.

“It is obvious that [the mother] carried out her crime after being driven to an unstable psychological state.”

And as usual, none of us know the details or what she went through, what her state of mind was/is.

Haters are in full force in here. I hope she also gets some psychological help as well.

Chip Star: "This is a textbook case of a miscarriage of justice. Was the defendant showing remorse because she dumped the corpse or because she was caught?"

Indeed, and it was a bell-jar sentence. Another judge would have given her a few years, another would have given her flowers then turned around and sentenced a man to death for stealing 10 yen from a temple. There's no rhyme or Reason with judges here.

Forensic science. It's pretty interesting stuff, provides evidence so you don't just have to take someone's word for it. It's worth a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_science

@Strangerland

EXACTLY!!!!!! This is my field of work. But when I base my comments on forensic science, I get frowned upon. Most crimes like this one would have a different turnout if there were some detailed work done.

Life in Japan is not the gold that we treasure from Christian point of view.

Could you explain the Christian point of view to those of us who don't subscribe, please?

If you're suggesting that people don't value life here because of their religion or lack of it, then that would be a curious stance to take.

Parents cannot always cope with the arrival of a new life. Especially if, perhaps, it was not planned or wished for. Sadly, logical and considered decisions can be blocked by emotional turmoil, panic and self-loathing.

And it is certainly not just confined to Japan.

Seriously people there would have been a thorough investigation. It was only a couple of days, not months. The coroner would easily tell it was still born by seeing if it ever took a breath.

I have heard funerals are an extortionist racquet in Japan. It sounds like she had no support , no one to turn to. Perhaps she is better off getting psychological care for the trauma she has been though.

Its very simple sensei258. Sometimes something brings on a fast labour that prevents woman from getting to hospital in time. Sometimes the infant can die in the womb from lack or blood supply or some kind of fetal distress. The coroner can tell if the baby ever took a breath , meaning if it was born alive or dead. It's pretty simple medical autopsy to tell.

I don't understand why all you people are being so cruel. She will be punished for not reporting and trying to conseal what happened. However her fragile mental state has to be considered as a very vital piece of evidence. I don't know what I would do if I was all alone and this happened. She most likely had some type to temporarily psychosis.

People are so quick to judge others.

I can only think that she had a home birth, IF, the baby was still born, is there some way that the hospital, local ward, or council, or funeral place could help her? is Japan that callous it won't offer any free support? is this why she abandoned the infant in the locker? is it through despair?

This is a textbook case of a miscarriage of justice.

Pardon the pun?

My daughter is just getting ready to turn four months old so reading this is like a wakizashi in my heart

"unstable psychological state" Will that be the standard from now on in Japan? No longer do you have to be proven insane, but if you're having psychological problems you can do anything and get away with it?

there is nothing to prove the baby was stillborn

There is nothing in the article to prove the baby was stillborn. Or do you have further information about the court case?

Just because a few days had passed since the child died doesn't mean it was stillborn. It just means the baby had died a few days before the autopsy. It could have been alive when put in the locker or was killed before being put inside.

Hey Brian, Health care is very expensive in Japan. Also Google Japanese funerals, even attending one is an expensive exercise.

Life in Japan is not the gold that we treasure from Christian point of view. 

The baby was still born do was never really 'alive'.

I think that Japanese take death pretty seriously - supernatural beings don't come into it.

Ok, she received a suspended sentence for dumping her ‘possibly’ stillborn baby in a coin locker, but there is nothing to prove the baby was stillborn.

Terrible. It doesn't seem she had the poor child delivered at a medical facility. Why not? Something seems wrong here.

'Unstable psychological state' doesn't seem a good excuse for this.

So the judge said to her to dispose of the body properly next time, I dont care if you kill your child it is yours after all but please dispose of it properly and not in a public place otherwise it will end up on news again. Sorry I cant find the necessary grammatical symbols on my Japanese keyboard.

She was sentenced to 2 years, suspended for three. "You are free to go, just please don't kill any more babies in the next 3 years." What an injustice to that poor child.

She probably went through hell, poor thing, and felt she could not confide in anyone regarding either her pregnancy or the stillbirth. "No alternative". That this act was her conclusion says a lot about support in the community here.

Please, please she only had 9 months to think about what to do with the baby.

Coin locker babies are far too common in Japan, and prove the further need for baby hatches. I have no doubt this woman dumped a live baby and left it for dead. Shame on the judge for the suspended sentence, even if stillborn. Amazing waht you can get away with here.

This is a textbook case of a miscarriage of justice. Was the defendant showing remorse because she dumped the corpse or because she was caught?

“It is obvious that [the mother] carried out her crime after being driven to an unstable psychological state.”

This cannot be a real thing which would exclude her from facing her crime! There are many people who were not in a psychological state of mind when they were committing a murder, later found to regret what they have done in hind sight, but they still are in prison. She knew what she was doing because she would go to reload the locker every day or other day in an attempt to hide what she had done. She didn't give birth in a hospital, so she hid the pregnancy/birth. A calculated plan. These are things the judges here don't look at to make a solid case

Life in Japan is not the gold that we treasure from Christian point of view. Nothing particular to me, all my Japanese family see nothing to criticize.

Seems very suspicious to me that's so often in these types of circumstances the baby was "stillborn", it's so convenient. How do we know the mother didn't have a hand in making sure the baby was "stillborn". After all, authorities admit that she was mentally unstable.

That pure BS. How the hell do you know the baby was stillborn days after it was dead? Did you just take her word for it? Welcome to Japan, kill your baby, show remorse, walk away free.

Shame on you sensei258!!!

How could you expect her to take the baby to Kagoshima and leave it in the infamous baby door or baby hatch. Think of all the time and money she would waste !

She made her own baby hatch at a fraction of the cost!

For a country that constantly complains about labor shortages and declines no population you would think a baby would be treasured. Jeekies, Japan is almost as deadly as Hollywood for a baby !