crime

Woman arrested for abandoning newborn's body in library toilet

55 Comments

Police said Saturday they have arrested a woman on suspicion of abandoning the body of her newborn baby in the restroom of a library in Minami-Alps, Yamanashi Prefecture.

According to Sankei Shimbun, the woman, who has been named as Nozomi Ueno, 27, was identified by CCTV camera footage. Police said she gave birth to a girl in the toilet cubicle on Sept 13 between 11:05 a.m. and 12:40 a.m. It is believed that the baby was alive at the time of her birth, but was later found dead in the cubicle.

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55 Comments
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Lovely. :((

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That is just sick.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ok, so maybe a teenage girl doens't know any better and is frightened to tell her parents, but for a 27 year old woman to carelessly dump her baby in a toilet is unforgivable. hitch a ride to kumamoto for effin sakes and spare the baby.

sometimes, i really do lack faith in humanity.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Would it help if Japan set up safe haven for mothers to drop their new born babies at hospitals, fire, ambulance without retribution. The US does this and I hear of some cases where newborns are dropped off and taken care of. This is a very rare occurrence in the US and even less in Japan. Just something the Japanese should think about.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"on suspicion of abandoning the body of her newborn baby" Yes, if this was a stillbirth, but if not, this would be murder.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Kevin, they do have such a system in place, but only one hospital in Kumamto, so I guess she didn't have the money for a train ticket to Kyushu.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

We must consider her mental state before passing judgment.

-3 ( +5 / -7 )

omg what?! This is in my town. That is freaking weird. I go to that library...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@uzneko

So you live Joutou, Kōfu city, then.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Another one!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ Patric Spohn I have lived id in Japan for five years and am not prone to such kinds of problems and mad because only one city in Kumamto (per you update) would exempt the help of a mother in distress. It is very rare but very unfortunate. Japan like many 1st world countries need to deal with such kind of local problems. I am sorry for the loss of a child and hope Japan takes note.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

That's so sad! I live in Minami Alps! I can't believe it! In fact, there are two public libraries near me! I hope it wasn't someone I know.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

We must consider her mental state before passing judgment.

How about just not passing judgement?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Cowardly and stupid.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

In this particular case, the murderer (if the infant was, indeed, alive at the time of birth) had nine months to decide what to do, this wasn't a "spur of the moment" decision. Nine months to get advice, nine months to plan for when the birth happened. After all that time, her decision was to leave it in the nearest toilet?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Fadamor, I concur with you. If it was up to me, Child murderers would be EXECUTED regardless of their mental state.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

blueWitch; In the modern age we have learnt why it is not always black and white. Is this woman a murderer? Is she insane? Is she suffering from depression? We do not know. We are not experts in this field.

Execution is state sanctioned murder and iswicked . Those who believe in the death sentence for "evil doers" are no better than Al Quida supporters who want all infidels dead.

-5 ( +5 / -9 )

@Steve

Honestly, I don't believe in the Death Penalty per se..But I do BELIEVE that those who murder a child should be stay behind bars for the rest of their natural lives, they should NOT be allowed to be here among us. The murder of a child should never be taken lightly. It's a major horrific crime against humanity. Mentally deranged or not, this woman belong in prison, or mental prison for that matter.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

This is what happens when you have a society like Japan thats irresponsible and a lack of appreciation for life. This is just one story of many thats occurring all over Japan. There is not only a lack of education on Sexual activity in Japan, but a lack responsibility by the parents of children in Japan. Although Nozomi Ueno was in the wrong here, I dont only blame her, but also her parents for not knowing what is going on with their child. Parents in Japan today seem to be too busy with their own affairs to even think about their childrens well being. I have seen so many irresponsible parents in Japan that should not be parents at all. They all want kids, and when they do have kids, they all disregard the upbringing of them in a responsible way which creates crimes like these. It`s so sad that these kinds of things happen all of the time in Japan with not much being done to improve the situation at all. There are so many unreported events like these all over Japan that is not printed in the media due to shame upon the family members. I hope this will soon change and I hope the Japanese people will one day grow up and stop acting like foolish spoiled kids.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Declining birth rates? Is that still an issue? This is a two edged sword. On one hand you have women like this that practically murder their children in the first place because they don't want to take the responsibility or many other various reasons (only reason a woman would carry a child to term and then murder them is because the relationship went sour and the "man" wouldn't marry them or take care of them). On the other hand you have how many abortions taking place by people who are too young (teens) and or selfish adults that feel a child would mess up their lives (which could have been avoided if they were careful). Abortions are costly, but for the exception of rape, could be avoided if contraceptive precautions were taken in the FIRST PLACE.

She's at fault for getting pregnant in the first place if she' was not victim to rape.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"This is what happens when you have a society like Japan thats irresponsible and a lack of appreciation for life."

@alladin You sound as though the majority of the Japanese people are irresponsible? Is that what you're saying? Because I believe otherwise.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It is so unfortunate that adoption wasn't an option.

How many couples would have loved a little baby girl as their own.

There was a lot of time to think about her and her baby's circumstances, unless this woman was so in denial that even her baby's inner movements went by, with no feelings of motherhood, only blind fear.

It is very sad, but also very possible.

If adoption were an option for her, she might have been able to feel more than panic, for her baby.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Don't forget issues like this are often over looked by the media and society as Japanese people don't want to believe they live in anything less than a paradise. Ask a Japanese person who has never left Japan and, a Japanese person who has lived abroad for over a year the same 5 social issue questions and you most likely get 5 opposite responses.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

If it was up to me, Child murderers would be EXECUTED regardless of their mental state.

Then fortunately it isn't up to you. Generally speaking I am against execution of any person, however when it comes to children and babies and in some cases women I would agree, however it is MURDER on the part of the state to execute a mentally ill person or anyone who can not be held responsible for their actions due to their mental state.

I love seeing how people here are so quick to judge anyone by the articles they read on this site. I can personally attest to the fact that there are plenty of 27 year old women and men for that matter, in this country that seem to have the mental capability of a pre-teen.

I will not judge this woman, but if it is found that she is or was mentally stable at the time she killed her child, then I would rather see her burn at the stake or better yet death by 1000 cuts!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Yubaru

I will not judge this woman, but if it is found that she is or was mentally stable at the time she killed her child, then I would rather see her burn at the stake or better yet death by 1000 cuts!

You see, honey...

At the end, those who murder torture/abuse/children are not humans themselves, therefore they should be put out of their misery. I don't believe in death penalty, but I believe in vigilante justice though, had the child been one of mine!!

The thing is that the "I'm mentally ill, poor me" charade have been played in this country a zillion times, so yes, it makes you wonder who is mentally ill for real and who's not. we both know how this blood sucking tick lawyers lie about such thing in court to get these monsters to walk away scot free.

Think about it... wouldn't you have your doubts too?

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Another one of these, huh? I don't think it matters on the mental capability of the mother. I think if it was already dead when given birth to, the least she could do was get someone for help. And if it was alive, then maybe she could've gave it to an adoption agency or something if she really didn't want it. Even if we do not know the full story, there is no excuse for killing a child! Nor is there an excuse to kill any living creature!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@blueWitch,

It's a problem in every country, I mean if I go to Africa or asia or America etc I will find similar things. There are many great things about Japan, but you k ow there's somehing wrong with the stats when the Tokyo govt says 33% of households have domestic violence. It means the numbers have to be higher, so why hide it? And we see abuse all the time with hitting (kids have hit me many times and i see moms slapping and hitting kids daily, and not always for disciplin) that means it's accepted but denied. Sone even hit grandma, but its not on the news. Yes 80 yr-old grandma! Happens everywhere.

Lots of japanophiles here, so true. It's one thing to like Japan, but it's another to pretend Japan can't have these problems cause it is unique. If we deal with reality we can appreciate the good things about Japan and help prevent people from dumping babies in the toilet. Even if the baby was still born, she should have been at hospital. I wonder if no questions asked adoption would help at police, fire, hospitals all over the country? But if he baby was alive, that is just crazy. There can be complications and the mom can die. This happened to a girl I knew. She had a baby in the toilet and planned to kill it (different country) but she herself died in the process. These things can be avoided. Why? Why??

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Oh when I say "happens everywhere" that grandma gets hit, I mean that happens in Japan. But it also happens "everywhere" as in every other country. I don't mean or happens in every house in Japan or every family. Sorry for confusion, I just saw my error now.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

All readers back on topic please.

The thing is that the "I'm mentally ill, poor me" charade have been played in this country a zillion times, so yes, it makes you wonder who is mentally ill for real and who's not. we both know how this blood sucking tick lawyers lie about such thing in court to get these monsters to walk away scot free.

Think about it... wouldn't you have your doubts too?

I believe that any defendant has the right to proper representation and it's the job of that lawyer to do his or her best to defend that client to the best of their ability and use whatever defense he or she may deem proper to do their job.

Of course I have doubts, like any sane person would, and to be fair here it could be said as well that any woman that killed their child in such a manner was probably mentally disturbed at the time of the incident, temporarily insane. However even with said insanity that does not mean that I believe they should not be held accountable for their actions.

I do not suggest either that she walk away scott free.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Crazy Joe: I live in Minami Alps, which is where the article says it happened.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

We nothing about this woman- she may have the mental age of a 5 year old- though in that case who the hell is looking after her & how did she get pregnant? I doubt if she can be done for murder anyway - were there signs of injury to the poor baby's body? Can we prove it was pre-meditated? As any mother can tell you, it must take a lot to do this - I cannot imagine what was going on in her mind- and in the end maybe it was something like being dumped by the father, not able to cope & hoping someone would find the baby in time -though why do it in a toilet is beyond me.... I suspect there's more to this than meets the eye & either the father or the woman's own family need to do some soul searching too.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There are people throughout this world who would have treasured the opportunity to adopt the little one, I dont care one iota what frame of mind this woman was in when she left her baby to die, there are alternatives to abandoning a defenceless little one

0 ( +1 / -1 )

how did she get pregnant?

If you have to ask the question then maybe you are too young or naive to understand the why.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@uzneko

doumo

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I feel bad for the woman--if you were pregnant, alone, and scared, Japan is probably one of the worst places to be. Maybe she was homeless, maybe she was single and trying to scrape by, heck, maybe she even still lived with her parents and she was afraid of what they would say. I don't think anyone just says, "You know what? I've carried this baby for 9 months, but when that sucker comes out, I'm totally going to drown it." They do things like this out of desperation because they don't know what else to do or where to turn to.

Have a little empathy. It's a fine, human characteristic to possess.

GIving birth in Japan (and abortion, for that matter) is prohibitively expensive, but the baby's coming out whether you have the cash or not. Generally, women in Japan don't have the social power to properly negotiate sexual situations, and a lot of contraceptive choices remain out of reach if you don't have the cash. Until Japan takes women's health seriously (instead of thinking of it all as a cash grab "self-inflicted condition") and until they start realizing that the result is babies in toilets ... well ... we're going to continue seeing babies in toilets. Baby hatches like the one in Kumamoto would be a good start. A little bit of charity and human emotion wouldn't hurt either.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Monkeys,

"I don't think anyone just says, "You know what? I've carried this baby for 9 months, but when that sucker comes out, I'm totally going to drown it."

Well that is because you don't know what goes on in reality. People DO do that. I alluded to a girl I knew who did precisely that. She died in childbirth, but they said (people who knew her and family well) that she was going to deliver the child and kill it later. Thongs didn't work out as she planned, but she had planned to do it. That's just one example. And when people plan to kill someone in advance the term is premeditated murder. You have trouble believing people do that? Wake up.

I recall back in 97' a mother drowned her 5 sons in the trunk of a car by backing it into a lake. Point is that some parents don't care about kids, and some do have evil intentions. Why do you think we have prisons?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@beangry

It's a problem in every country, I mean if I go to Africa or asia or America etc I will find similar things. There are many great things about Japan, but you k ow there's somehing wrong with the stats when the Tokyo govt says 33% of households have domestic violence. It means the numbers have to be higher, so why hide it? And we see abuse all the time with hitting (kids have hit me many times and i see moms slapping and hitting kids daily, and not always for disciplin) that means it's accepted but denied. Sone even hit grandma, but its not on the news. Yes 80 yr-old grandma! Happens everywhere.

Lots of japanophiles here, so true. It's one thing to like Japan, but it's another to pretend Japan can't have these problems cause it is unique. If we deal with reality we can appreciate the good things about Japan and help prevent people from dumping babies in the toilet. Even if the baby was still born, she should have been at hospital. I wonder if no questions asked adoption would help at police, fire, hospitals all over the country? But if he baby was alive, that is just crazy. There can be complications and the mom can die. This happened to a girl I knew. She had a baby in the toilet and planned to kill it (different country) but she herself died in the process. These things can be avoided. Why? Why??

What you have posted here is very very true. I'm so sick and tired of people, especially japanophiles, pretending that my country is so perfect and pretty... corrupted/incompetent government archaic/ridiculous laws... we are doomed to sink into the ocean if things don't change soon!! Thank you for replying to my posts.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

@steve@CPFC

her mental state of mind...?.... Oh, i get it. It's like.... A. The suppose guy in this picture promised her the Japanese dream to later dump her with the load!! SO, she goes off trashing the poor newborn in retaliation. B. Their family rejected them from the get-go and they figured to be better off without the baby, after staging the little for ...how many months?!...full pregnancy...it doesn7t say, right/! C. he/She lost their jobs and their finace status is uncertain.... Get real, will ya!!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Unless this girl is mentally incapacitated (in which case where the hell are her family/helpers?) there is no excuse for what she did. None whatsoever. As many have pointed out she has had 9 months to think about what she is going to do about this, and if her top option was to have it in a toilet and then leave it to die that says an awful lot to me about the kind of person she is.

Yes, it does happen in a lot of places, but I dont often read of newborns being left to die. Abandonned at hospitals, wrapped up warm and left on doorsteps with notes, even left in police stations, but not left in toilets/station lockers/bicycle baskets in the rain. I am lucky enough to have 3 healthy kids, but I have friends who desperately want children and cant have them. And yet you get "people" like this leaving innocent babies to die alone.

As any mother can tell you, it must take a lot to do this - I cannot imagine what was going on in her mind-

To be honest, I find describing this individual as a "mother" is an insult to mothers. She has no right to the title whatsoever. She barely has a right to be called "human" other than in a biological sense in my opinion.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Simple: Mother A noun

a female parent. ( often initial capital letter ) one's female parent. a mother-in-law, stepmother, or adoptive mother. a term of address for a female parent or a woman having or regarded as having the status, function, or authority of a female parent.

or

Killer noun

a person or thing that kills.

You take your pick..... Seems simple to me.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

May the curse of Baba Yaga and her seven smelly sons blast this woman SO far across the fields of damnation that Jesus Christ himself cound not find her

......with a telescope.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Not good situation

0 ( +0 / -0 )

1) She's 27 years old, probably lives with her parents. 2) She doesn't have an ( her own ) apartment or should would have had it in her apartment 3) She's not married 4) WHAT KIND OF PARENT(S) DOES SHE HAVE ? supportive / very conservative / very judgemental 5) Did she tell her friends ? Highly unlikely 6) Did she seek help ? From where ? Japan doesn't have a hotline for teen/unwanted pregnancy 7) Is she mentally fit to have a baby? Does she want one ? Does she have a great job to support her baby? 8) In Japan single mothers are frowned upon or made to look like bad girl or nasty girl

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

8) In Japan single mothers are frowned upon or made to look like bad girl or nasty girl

I would like to think that baby killers are frowned upon even more.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

9) Do 1 - 8 justify murder?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wahhh ! Sour grapes. We don't even know if she killed that baby. She is arrested for abandoning baby's body. The rest of the story is not known. Could be she didn't know she was pregnant (that happens even to sane people, and yes, it also could be she was not mentally fit), gave birth at her surprise, was scared, didn't what to do (would you know ?) and the baby died in her arms in a few minutes... But well, Bluewitch in brownshirts, if mentally ill people were to be taken out of society as you suggest, you're sure you wouldn't be in the gomi bag yourself someday ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

), gave birth at her surprise, was scared, didn't what to do (would you know ?) and the baby died in her arms in a few minutes

that is wrong

this baby was alive for about a month after she gave birth. if you had actually read the article, you would know she had given birth on september the 13th it does not say the body was decomposing in any way. so its doubtful its been there a while. so we can assume it was alive until recently

0 ( +0 / -0 )

this baby was alive for about a month after she gave birth. if you had actually read the article, you would know she had given birth on september the 13th it does not say the body was decomposing in any way.

If you had read the article you would know she gave birth in the toilet cubicle on Sept 13. She was identified later from CCTV footage. Or do you imagine she gave birth in the toilet, smiled at the camera, took the baby away then brought it back and dumped it a month later?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From the article:

Police said she gave birth to a girl in the toilet cubicle on Sept 13 between 11:05 a.m. and 12:40 a.m.

From Kefka:

this baby was alive for about a month after she gave birth. if you had actually read the article, you would know she had given birth on september the 13th it does not say the body was decomposing in any way.

This is a result of making the erroneous assumption that the arrest occurred on the same day the death was discovered. It didn't happen that way. Once they had the surveillance video, they spent weeks trying to identify the woman from the video. Once they had finally identified her, THEN the arrest happened.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is a result of making the erroneous assumption that the arrest occurred on the same day the death was discovered. It didn't happen that way. Once they had the surveillance video, they spent weeks trying to identify the woman from the video. Once they had finally identified her, THEN the arrest happened.

considering this is the first i have heard of the incident, and the article does not give enough info for me to make an accurate assumption, can you really berate me for making a false statement?

this article simply stated she gave birth on september 13th and was recently arrested. i do not know of another article in which it states when the corpse of the child was found.

if you do, kindly direct me to it so that i may learn all i may of the incident

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wonder how many people who lambast this woman for killing baby immediately after birth are at the same time of the opinion that "partial birth abortion" should be legal... i.e. the same thing, only a second earlier, and performed with a knife.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

No knife used. Just a dirty hanger.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Cos:

Sour grapes

???! Do you know what that even means?

I wonder how many people who lambast this woman for killing baby immediately after birth are at the same time of the opinion that "partial birth abortion" should be legal... i.e. the same thing, only a second earlier, and performed with a knife.

Ummm - probably no-one actually because that is equally horrible.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think its just wrong and the woman responsable rots in jail.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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