crime

Osaka couple arrested for suffocating 3-year-old boy in garbage bag

39 Comments

A 26-year-old woman and her 20-year-old boyfriend were arrested Thursday for allegedly confining the woman's 3-year-old son in a plastic garbage bag, causing him to die from suffocation, Osaka prefectural police said Friday.

According to police, on Wednesday at about 7:55 p.m., the suspects, identified as Yui Tanaka and Hiroyuki Sugiyama bound the hands and legs of Tanaka's son Shizuku and placed him in a plastic garbage bag for 20 minutes in another room in their apartment in Joto Ward, Osaka. The two suspects were quoted as saying that they had no intention of killing Shizuku and that they just meant to discipline the boy because he had been noisy that day.

Tanaka called emergency services herself after the boy stopped crying and became silent, but by the time they arrived, his heart was no longer beating. The boy was confirmed dead one hour after he was taken to hospital.

Neighbors living on the same floor said they often heard the boy crying, but the family looked happy as a whole.

© Compiled from news reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

39 Comments
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There certainly needs to be some re-formulation of attitudes to discipline here. At least in gaikoku when things like this occur it's because the people are psychos, not because they've been taught to do things that way.

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So Wednesday night at 7:55 when I was on my way home from work on the train reading without a care in the world this poor kid was suffocating to death in a garbage bag at the hands of his mother. Absolutely terrible. I pray for his peace in Heaven.

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It's refreshing to see some normal Japanese news. As sad as it is to say it, the poor little bugger is probably better off now than having to live his life with these abusive twits.

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I've got a 3 year old son. I can't believe people do this...

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Words cannot explain how this makes me feel.

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Rest in Peace, little boy. Let's all hope the awful cowards who did this get a sentence comparable to say, a corporate criminal in Japan. ie at least 20 years in the slammer. But I am seriously worried they will only get 5 or 10 years. I find myself asking again: Who is looking after the children?

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Poor little fella, never stood a chance. Was the boyfriend the father?

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unforgivable! these two should have their bits sterilised and never be allowed to reproduce again! poor boy. he must've been so frightened! rest in peace little one :-(

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A 26-year-old woman and her 20-year-old boyfriend

I'm noticing a trend here. It seems that anytime a baby / young kid is abused it's always a single mother with her boyfriend.

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something needs to be done, too much babykilling. People should do some kind of test that shows they are ready or not. which is ridiculous that there should be one. If you make kids you should be ready to take care of it.

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i wonder which would have been better, this kid suffering years and years of physical and mental abuse, being scarred forever by his idiotic mom and her pathetic boyfriend, or dying now. as horrific as it may seem, this kid may be better off.

its crimes like these that i wish the death penalty were in effect.

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Oh man, with all the depressing earth quake news now this disgusting child abuse again. There is no excuse for this. Only biblical law would be just. An eye for an eye, a plastic bag for a plastic bag. Scum!

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Yup yup . Single mom with boy friend or the other way indeed. One of Japanese saying . Person getting drawn.even grab on to a straw. Hugh

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I have a 3 yr old lad as well I guard with my life (not many blood fathers would do this). Joto... very sketchy area of Osaka with many young families like this. I only went through that station daily a few years ago on the way to Hyogo/Kobe but can tell you that is one the nastiest train platforms and areas in Japan. Dodgy crimes for dodgy areas...anywhere in the world.

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Just send the couple to Fukushima to clean up the power plant.

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That's three in a fortnight. Right on average.

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@bicultural

I'm noticing a trend here. It seems that anytime a baby / young kid is abused it's always a single mother with her boyfriend.

This is a very common occurence in other countries too. Very sad but true. One of the failings of society. Hard to eradicate but with support from NGOs and a caring government, some single mums can be educated to be independent and become strong single parents.

I would like to share with some readers here, the story of my experience with a true incident.

One morning last year whilst I was on my way to work and on nearing the train station, I came across a young mum. She was carrying a baby (about a year old), and at the same time struggling to lug a big luggage with her. She appeared in a desperate hurry. Sensing that something was wrong, I offered to carry her luggage for her. (She was going the opposite direction from mine, OK for me). I followed silently with the luggage behind her, wondering what was the matter with her. Just when we were about to reach her destination (a friend's house), I then noticed that a car was following behind us. I then knew.... She was running away from some guy. When this guy knew that we had seen him, he got out of the car, and approached us in a rather angry manner. This poor girl was so scared, she practically was hiding behind my back holding on tight to her little girl. I told myself - now or never. Faced the guy, and in not so many words, told him that I knew who he was and where he was working, not hard to do, because he was in his workplace shirt, (a prestigious corporation), with his name tag pinned on the left shirt pocket. I told him that I was that girl's good friend (I lied here) and that we watched out for each other, and that should anything were to happen to her, I would not hesitate to go to the police. He immediately backed off, and "politely" asked me to look after her. He then drove away. After this, the girl then was ready to explain to me what was going on. Apparently, she was a single mum, and that this guy was her boyfriend. He had often been violent to her, and that she was running away from him that morning. She safely reached her friend's house that morning with her baby. Until today, we do not even know each other's name. I had guessed that she wanted anonymity so did not ask. Neither did she asked for mine. Since then, I have not seen her anymore. Hope all is well with her.

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its crimes like these that i wish the death penalty were in effect.

Your wish has come true - murder is a capital offense in Japan.

(not many blood fathers would do this)

I would like to see the research you have done to prove this.

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Always a guy looking for a go. No Mr Dent... I rarely see loser BFs put his GF's 3yr old in a trash bag for punishment... anywhere.

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I wonder about how some women can go through pregnancy and keep the child only to be a poor parent. I guess abortion wasn't an option and adoption out of the question for Yui Tanaka. Who the heck disciplines a child by bounding the hands and feet then placing him in a garbage bag? Where did that idea come from?

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Dentshop, I don't think that this one counts as a murder. I'm not totally up on Japanese law, but in the US I'm sure it would be something like "negligent homicide" or something to that effect. Kind of like how in Japan there's that funky category of "rape resulting in death."

I wonder if the couple were just exceedingly stupid. Maybe they didn't even close the bag, but thought he could breathe fine and didn't realize that bag + face = suffocation. In any case they were stupid ... but I do believe based on how people discipline their kids in Japan that they probably didn't want him to die. How many stories have we all heard of toddlers locked out of their houses--sometimes on balconies--in the winter? And kids who are disciplined in that way are likely to do the same to their own children. Japan needs some serious DV and child abuse awareness campaigns to teach people proper reactions to problems in their families.

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I guard with my life (not many blood fathers would do this)

Well, you said you would guard your lad with your life and not many blood fathers would guard their own sons with their lives. I can only go on what you write.

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@ sqwak

There is not many people like you in this world. Wish to have people like you every where

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"he ( 3-year-old boy ) had been noisy that day"

Only that day?

This is an incredibly sad story.

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damn it's that a dicipline? poor lil boy RIP ...

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@realmind

The truth is that at that time, I was really scared too. But I had to face him and try to get him to back off. If I had not, that guy would have forced her and the baby into the car, and who knows what might happen to them after that. That was why, in that split second, I told myself "Now or Never". I am glad that I did it, otherwise, the "what if" question might haunt me for the rest of my life.

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They both should be punished the way they killed this boy!!!

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"@ sqwak There is not many people like you in this world. Wish to have people like you every where"

Same here,sqwak. Kudos to you.

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Good on you sqwak - not many people in Japan - or other modern societies - stand up for the defenceless any more.

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omg..i have a boy of the same age..how can people be so heartless..if anything happens to my kid ill die..and still feel the pain..

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im a single mom too..i have three boys..8, 7 and 3..i love them to death..only God knows how much..i promised myself to stay away from men..spent 10 years with their bully dad..I learned my lesson the hard way...I want to raise them in a happy house..a room filled with music and laughter..its not always like that but they love me and i love them..we argue but always kiss goodnight and say our prayers together..i always tell them I love them..and wish that it would be enough..

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Me too. Great work sqwak.

nice!!

Moderator: All readers back on topic please.

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After reading this story, it's my belief that one problem is the lack of real information made available for people in Japan. I'm not saying that there is no help or information out there, but it's just not readily accessible.

I believe that there should be more information given to people who are in special circumstances. For example, new parents. Perhaps it is, I'm not sure, but it seems that there really isn't enough education!

A lot of these cases would probably have been prevent had there been more information on how to be a parent. I'm definitely not trying to make excuses for these people, but if what they say is true, they really had no clue on how to raise a child, or what to expect from children at that age. Perhaps if they had been better informed, they would realize what was happening with their child and act appropriately rather than use a torture method.

I do realize that there are plenty of books out there, but I believe that a LOT of people just don't think about that simply because it doesn't occur to them.

Just a thought.

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A womans choice...

She has an abortion, or she goes on to become a responsible, dedicated mother. After 15weeks, the choice is made.

This was not discipline, this was sadism resulting in death.

Abuse like this deserves the full wrath of the law.

Neighbors should also hang their heads for not speaking out in a timely manner in that poor little ones' behalf. Continuous crying is NOT normal, and deserves a "heads up", no matter how "happy" they look.

If you are wrong, so what? If you are right, you could save a little life.

My God, what a horror.

R.I.P. little boy...

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When the social structure or social bonding is non-existant, this type of incidents occur naturally as by product. If the couple would have proper support to raise the child, their psychological state and guardianship wouldn't be ruined so drastically.

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NEWS likes these doesn't surprise me anymore...there are too many "beasts" having children in this country nowadays. The japanese so called LAW is a joke. The japanese judicial system is a joke. Abusive subhumans like this deserve to rot in prison for the rest of their pathetic existence, but the japanese law joke will give them 2 or 3 years in jail and that's it. Abusing, torturing, raping and murdering children in japan has become very condoned for what I can see.

Shame in this G7 country.

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Don`t they have the death penalty for this? Singapore would knock him straight!

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Its easy to assume the worst, that the parents were just sadists, but this might just be a classic case of people having no clue how to raise a child. Its not like there are courses for it at public school. And you don't learn by magic either.

You combine people with no clue together with a child who cries and screams as a direct result of them not having a clue and this happens. My wife and I have a baby and even between the two of us its hard to keep him happy. But we know that freaking out won't stop his crying. Holding him, swinging him and singing to him usually work. If not, I tell him I will send him to the moon, but all I do is hold him up high and he looks down and smiles.

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Its easy to assume the worst, that the parents were just sadists, but this might just be a classic case of people having no clue how to raise a child.

Most anyone knows you don't put plastic bags over your head, and the consequences if you do.

What they did goes way beyond not knowing how to care for a child.

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