Police in Soka, Saitama Prefecture, said Monday they have arrested a 41-year-old woman for attempting to drown her 1-year-old daughter in the bathtub.
According to police, the suspect -- identified as Yumiko Takahashi -- attempted to drown her daughter Kurumi at around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sankei Shimbun reported. Takahashi's mother-in-law, who had come over to help babysit, heard Takahashi call out and went into the bathroom. Takahashi and been taking a bath together with her daughter, the woman told police.
Kurumi was taken to hospital and remains unconscious, police said.
Takahashi was quoted by police as saying, "I was having trouble raising kids. I thought that if I killed her, my responsibility would go away."
© Japan Today
26 Comments
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mikihouse
soka...no baby no responsibility
Simon Foston
Maybe some of these statements from criminals are taken a bit out of context, but they always sound so chillingly matter of fact, like whatever horrific crime has just been committed is in fact perfectly sensible and logical.
nonsibi
I pray that Kurumi baby will gain her consciousness soon.
cl400
Still unconscious... I hope she recovers with out any brain damage or other affects. Poor little girl.
sakurala
Such a sad way to start the day. Why didn't she just ask her mother-in-law to look after little Kurumi while she took a long and relaxing bath. It seems like she has family support, so why not use it rather than trying to drown her daughter? And if things were that bad, perhaps she could have arranged the daughter to go to day care or go to a Mommy and me class to help her feel better about her situation?
ebisen
Luckily the grandmother was there to save her niece. Now this poor girl will have to live knowing that her mentally deranged mother tried to kill her
soldave
I'm guessing the quotes that are frequently in these stories are both dramatized during translation, and what have been acquired after police "questioning" and are parts of the confession.
Ewan Huzarmy
"Luckily the grandmother was there to save her niece."
Shouldn't that be granddaughter?
Saulo Akazawa
No responsability in jail....
JeffLee
Japan needs to overhaul its cultural attitudes and policies on child adoption.
The stream of news about child and infant murders -- caused because the parents simply don't want to raise their own children -- is really depressing.
Disillusioned
She thought? She only thought about herself!
Is it? Accepted by who? Also, not everybody can lay their hands the 50maan yen for the procedure.
mrtestsworth
“I was having trouble raising kids. I thought that if I killed her, my responsibility would go away.”
These quotes come from the confessions obtained by the cops...there is no way she actually said this...
gogogo
The government needs to address this problem, parents killing children is too common news!
taj
Just in case this baby survives, I wish the mother's name hadn't been released. Because as noted above, now the kid will know her mom tried to kill her. That fact will forever be searchable.
taj
I just looked again and realize they named the victim as well! Christ on a bicycle! They must be expecting the kid can't survive.
komuso killa
the saga continues...
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
This is another case of depression, husbands please care more for you wife during and after giving birth.
cornbread1
Some years back, someone coined the term, "Adult Children"....referring to people who are adults in age, and yet children in terms of emotional and mental development. Girls are biologically able to give birth from the early teens, but raising a baby/child is a whole different ball game that requires maturity--tireless giving with little in return (love). What one sacrifices/gives in the first several years, the rewards become evident years later as the baby grows into an adolescent and then into a responsible adult. People who have grown accustomed to instant and visible rewards will have a hard time nurturing a child as the rewards become evident years and years later. Having said that, to really nurture a child, sacrificial love is needed, similar to how Jesus loves us unconditionally.
cleo
Wow, not my experience at all. Nothing beats the joy of having your toddler running across the room just to be with you. Works with grandchildren, too. The returns are huge.
Frungy
My theory, and this is just a theory, is that this mother has probably been mentally ill for quite some time, has been sleep-deprived, which exacerbated the mental illness, and to her at the time this seemed like a logical and sensible course of action. I'm not in any way excusing her act, a sociopath who kills someone is still a killer, however it does help us understand that in order to rehabilitate this individual as far as possible a psychiatric ward might be more appropriate and productive than a prison cell.
nath
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
Was she rasing the child as a single mother?
MasterBape
Takahashi was quoted by police as saying, “I was having trouble raising kids. I thought that if I killed her, my responsibility would go away.”
Unfortunately, this is a common response in Japan.
So, no kid, no responsibility...no grief? No explaining to family and friends what happened? No fear of a prison sentence?
She's clearly insane.
prometheus419
SAME NAME COINCIDENT ? http://japandailypress.com/worst-nightmare-mom-chats-online-while-neglecting-dying-son-025649
29-year-old Yumiko Takahashi was arrested because she was so busy chatting online, that she neglected to tend to her ailing son. As a result the year-and-a-half old Neo died due to pneumonia and he was dead for more than a day before Takahashi realized what had happened.
kimuzukashiiiii
Interesting to note the mothers age, as another poster mentioned.
Teenage mother and stepfathers get a really bad rep here, however of late I have noticed more and more of older parents doing these kind of things. Even the woman in the link above - 29. That is NOT a young mother...
My personal theory is that, with women marrying much older, they possibly find the change from being completely selfish, to having to be completely selfless, too hard. Younger mothers are easier to adapt, I think.
Very sad for Kurumi chan, lets hope she makes a full recovery.
Mirai Hayashi
Then why have a kid!!?? God people like this REALLY REALLY piss me off. I just want to go over there and bitch slap her! Thankfully the girl wasn't killed. Hopefully they do the right thing and find her a new home with parents who want her and care for her, and not just blindly return her to her sick and demented monster of a mother.