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Police in Osaka have arrested a couple on suspicion of abandoning the body of their one-year-old son in their car.
According to police, Rena Suzuki, 24, and her common-law husband Yuta Oshima, 22, placed the body of their dead son, Ryusei, in the trunk of their car where it was found this week. Fuji TV reported that the couple has been lying to the child consultation center and that Suzuki tried to avoid any investigation into Ryusei's whereabouts by telling child welfare officials that he was with his grandparents or at a nursery. Police said that Suzuki's mother has not seen Ryusei since March 22.
The couple were arrested on Wednesday.
Suzuki told police that she left her son and 3-year-old daughter in the car in April, and found Ryusei dead when she came back. She said she and Oshima put her son's body in the trunk on the same day.
Staff from Osaka city's Nambu Child Consultation Center have visited Suzuki 28 times since Nov 11, as possible child neglect and abuse were suspected. Not able to confirm the whereabouts of Ryusei, the staff reported to the police on Tuesday night. Suzuki's car was found in the parking lot in Sumiyoshi Ward, and investigators discovered Ryusei's body inside a cooler box in the trunk after finding the couple at a nearby hotel.
Ryusei was wearing a diaper, T-shirt and shorts. Police said an autopsy showed malnutrition as the likely cause of death, as his chest muscles were underdeveloped and he had a low body fat percentage. The autopsy also indicated that Ryusei died sometime between June and September, not in April, as Suzuki claimed.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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Mike L
Saw these "people" on the news this morning, yankii mama and chinpira Dad.
Poor boy never stood a chance. I hope these two get everything they deserve.
rocketpanda
When you read such vile and evil crimes against defenseless and vulnerable kids I think whatever judgement given won't be enough.
Aly Rustom
agree with all the above. I have a very hard time reading these crimes against children as I am a proud dad of a one year old boy. These poor excuses for parents make me sick.
gogogo
Makes me so angry that these monsters live amongst us. These "parents" need to be put to death.
smithinjapan
Lock these people up for life... NOW! No leniency. Show them that life has meaning in Japan, and give them life to think about it.
FightingViking
Poor little girl... she's going to grow up knowing what her parents did... I hope they find a loving family to adopt her. What a miserable way to start life, she will be forever traumatized... Heartless parents... Don't let them go free !
Disillusioned
The punk generation at its finest! Take the girl away from them and lock them away for a very very long time!
Chop Chop
Police said an autopsy showed malnutrition as the likely cause of death, as his chest muscles were underdeveloped and he had a low body fat percentage.
It was very sad. The children should have been taken away from negligence parent earlier. Japanese Government has given aid money billions of dollars to Africa and Asia every year but the Government could afford to look after its own children.
coskuri
That would be nice. To be adoptable, she'd have to be officially abandoned by both "parents" ASAP, so the best she can hope is growing up in a not too bad kid shelter and/or with decent foster parents. The more likely is she stays a few week with "grandparents" (those that raised the 2 abusers ) and very soon back with her "parents", while they will be freed to wait for a trial, to then be condemned to a suspensive scolding for not feeding the baby...
thetoleratedone
I wonder how much the fine will be?
Pat Telzrow
The mothers story doesn't add up. If the boy died in April the childs body would be decomposed beyond telling if he died of malnutrition. Both parents should never see the light of day.
Clare Yoshida
How did it take 28 visits for services to call the police?
borscht
I hope they get more than a five-year suspended sentence but I'm not going to hold my breath that a Japanese judge will go against precedence.
Kobe White Bar Owner
may karma exist and pay the animals back 10 fold.