Parents arrested for assaulting, confining 16-year-old daughter

It boggles the mind the cruelty humans are capable of.

The suspects were quoted by police as saying they were upset with their daughter because she put on too much weight.

Wow. A new low.

the man and his wife mentally ill, keep the girl away from them forever luck she has a good grandma to go to

The suspects were quoted by police as saying they were upset with their daughter because she put on too much weight.

Japanese usually discriminate against overweight people. Reasonable parents would have put her on a diet.

This:

The suspects were quoted by police as saying they were upset with their daughter because she put on too much weight.

Followed by this:

The girl weighed 45 kilograms when she was rescued.

Is there such a thing as anorexia by proxy?

Good on the grandma for calling the police.

Thank goodness she was able to get out, call her grandmother and the police were able to intervene. Otherwise, this story could have been even worse.

Undoubtedly this girl has challenges ahead of her, given that her own parents were doing this to her, but sounds like she has a good grandmother to turn to. Good luck to her as she finds her way in life after this.

It boggles the mind the cruelty humans are capable of.

Humans? I don't see anything 'human' about these two animals! And, the really scary thing is, they probably still believe they were doing the right thing.

"a man and his wife... hit their daughter’s FACE and arms with a METAL ROD... confined her... for 12 days... only one meal a day"

Well done to the girl for reporting it!!

Words fail me.

Bad parents should be sterilized.

The suspects were quoted by police as saying they were upset with their daughter because she put on too much weight

World full of weird people.

The girl weighed 45 kilograms when she was rescued.

So they think 99 pounds is too much weight for a 16 year old? Something's seriously wrong with them for doing this, and thinking that.

Bad parents should be sterilized.

Bolt the stable after the horse has gone! Since people can't be bad parents untill they are parents.

My 8 year old son wieghs 30 kg and not in anyway over weight.

@A.N. Other

Words fail me.

Actually, for me, its not that words fail me, it's that many of the words I want to use with regards to the "parents" would result in my post being deleted because of vulgarities.

But, that said, I know what you mean by that post! Truly horrific that parents would somehow think that beating their daughter on the face with a metal rod was in any way justifiable / could be rationalised.

Knowing how to get to her grandmother's place in Saga and then picking a lock with a fishing rod indicates that this is a very intelligent, resourceful young woman. My kids did their share of shenanigans growing up (the tree to our balcony has been climbed in the dark many times), but they did it for fun, not out of desperation ("You could have just asked me" was a frequent comment). I hope she is placed permanently with her grandmother or some other "adult" and never has to live with her parents again.

This all makes me sick to my stomach. You might be surprised how strict some parents here are about a (usually) girl's weight. One of my friend's mother would put her on a 1000 calorie a day diet if she even went 1/2 a kilo over 50kg (110lbs) and she was at least 5'5. Several of my other friends would be punished if their doctor told their parents they had gained weight since the last year's checkup. Even my mother in law tells me I desperately need to diet every time I see her because her poor grand daughter will pick up on my bad eating habits. It's never ending and it really gets to me I'm about 5'4 and 58kg, so not a stick but not fat. Even the monthly visit from my mother in law can depress me to no end because of the weight harassment. This is a really common problem in Japan so the only thing that really surprises me about this story is the severe physical violence. I've seen them do stories on the news (the ones on NHK with the bad re-enactments) about girls being locked away and punished in their homes for being too fat. The normalcy of it makes me feel ill. I hope these parents get the book thrown at them.

She's not fat; she's big-boned

@savethegaijin - "the only thing that really surprises me... is the SEVERE PHYSICAL VIOLENCE...The normalcy of it makes me feel ill"

As it should... :-(

However, her parents brought her back home on Oct 10 and started beating her in the car on the way home from the airport.

How did they get her back? Charming the daughter or grandmother? Anyways whatever, I hope they get some major time and the daughter never has to meet these animals again.

A nutter day in Japan!

Adds a new meaning to the term monster parents.

45 kg seems a little low for a 16 year old, unless she is very short.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if the parents were big, fat yakitori-munching fatties.

Put on too much weight? Solution - Starve the poor child? Sounds like Ancient Rome rather than 21st Century Japan. Seriously, the physical appearance of the child is an irrelevant issue. The only thing that matters is that the parents are alleged thugs.

Of course, everybody realizes that parenting can be difficult. However, "normal" people do not try and fill in their kids with an iron bar.

Most tatami rooms have sliding doors and windows. I would like more information about the house layout.

It's written that she was in a six-tatami-mat room, as a unit of measure. It doesn't say that it was an actual room with tatami.

@shonabb - "I would like more information about the house layout"

"a man and his wife... hit their daughter’s FACE and arms with a METAL ROD... confined her... for 12 days... only one meal a day" and you want to know more about the layout of the house.

Do you think she is making up the story to cause trouble? Is this the typical Japanese mentality?

To breed animals in Japan, you need a license..... sick people like this can have children, only to be regulated AFTER they cause abuse. Strange world is it not?

I'm in a tatami room right now with a locking wood door. It has pretty paper over it. So it is possible.

@Disillusioned, Fizzbit put 'humans', supposedly because there are no known cases of animals doing this to their young, it seems to me humans are far crueller than any animal.

Has anybody ever seen a lock on a tatami room door?

Not for a minute suggesting that the story isn't true, just trying to visualise how she picked a lock with a fishing rod....

Well done, grandma, and well done the girl, for getting the h_ll outta there!!! And the cops too, actually, now i think of it!!!!

Hope kid and grandmother are happy for the foreseeable future, one guesses the parents will be institutionalized.

May nothing bad ever happen to this girl, Again!

So they kept her from going to school for 12 days?

@nandakanda - "So they kept her from going to school for 12 days?"

The article states "16-year-old daughter... had left home... in August... parents brought her back... Oct 10"

So she would have left home during the summer holidays and I guess she would not been legally required to return in school. Especially because:

The parents "hit their daughter’s FACE and arms with a METAL ROD"