crime

Woman arrested for stabbing son’s 8-year-old classmate to undergo psychiatric evaluation

18 Comments

Prosecutors in Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, said that a 41-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of attempting to kill an 8-year-old girl earlier this month, will undergo three months of psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she can stand trial.

The woman, Rie Chisaka, stabbed the girl, who was her son’s classmate, at around 4 p.m. on Dec 7 at her home. The girl had come to play with Chisaka’s son, Fuji TV reported. Police said that at some point, Chisaka was alone with the girl and stabbed her several times in the chest.

Chisaka called 119 at 4:10 p.m. and reported that a girl at her home had been injured. The victim was taken to hospital but her condition was not life-threatening. 

Police said Chisaka, a part-time worker, admitted to the charge and made some incoherent statements in which she believed that the girl might have been bullying her son and that there had been trouble between herself and the girl’s family. However, police said they found no indication of any trouble between the families, or that Chisaka’s son was being bullied at school. 

Prosecutors said Chisaka will undergo psychiatric evaluation until March 26, at which time prosecutors will decide whether to put her on trial.

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18 Comments
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Obviously a nut bar.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

It's pretty clear she is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but whether she is fit to stand trial should not be the issue. There was report two years ago stating 27% of Japanese adults have some kind of mental illness and these were just the diagnosed cases. This woman is obviously one that was not diagnosed. It would be safe to assume that the number mentally ill adults in Japan is at least one in three. That is quite high compared to other countries. Most 'modern' countries are around 20-25%.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Whaat!!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Disillusioned: So what? You stab a child for no reason, you get locked up. End of story. Hopefully for at least a decade. Claiming diminished liability due to mental impairment is just a red herring. If you really are so mentally gone that you can't prevent yourself from stabbing a child, you should be locked up much longer than a decade.

Just like we quarantine people who carry highly contagious viruses, we should quarantine these mental case types away from the general population, for the protection of society.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

It would be safe to assume that the number mentally ill adults in Japan is at least one in three. 

Incorrect assumptions cause people to say stupid things regularly. Better to confirm your assumptions rather that just making something up and assuming yourself to be correct.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

If you really are so mentally gone that you can't prevent yourself from stabbing a child, you should be locked up much longer than a decade. 

That’s not how it works. Putting someone in an institution isn’t a punishment, it’s a treatment. Arbitrary length of treatment makes literally no sense at all. Some people will never be healed, and others will. Keeping them in care after they have been healed, makes no sense from a medical standpoint, and is a waste of money for tax payers.

Just like we quarantine people who carry highly contagious viruses, we should quarantine these mental case types away from the general population, for the protection of society.

Exactly. And just as a person in quarantine is released after they are found to be clear of the virus, so is someone in a mental institution released if/when they are healed.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

"27% of Japanese adults"

I'd love to see these figures backed up. But you would have if you could have. Nice random dig on Japan.

Back to reality.

Anyone who stabs a child (or anyone) unsolicited in the chest does not need an "evaluation"... They need a trial and, if there is a finding of guility, to be put away on account of being incompatible with human society. Forever. It is not a matter of mental state. It is not a matter of punishment. It is a matter of failing the don't-stab-the-kid-in-the-chest test.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

"Three months psychiatric evaluation?"

You may as well get an evaluation by a horologist or a Tarot Card Reader.

I bet it would be more accurate.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@strangerland

Very interesting comment,  "Keeping them in care after they have been healed, makes no sense from a medical standpoint,"

I just wonder how you would feel if this woman is released in 3-4 years and lives beside you and your family if you would still be singing the same tune....

0 ( +3 / -3 )

I just wonder how you would feel if this woman is released in 3-4 years and lives beside you and your family if you would still be singing the same tune....

lol Similar comments have been said to Strangerland many times. Ain't no swaying his opinion.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There are many out there, friends, neighbours, colleagues, loved ones who have mental health problems. Although this is an extreme case, using language like "nuts", "mental case types" and so on is not helpful.

How do you know you're not sitting beside someone suffering from a mental illness at this very moment?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

forget the psychiatric evaluation, just lock her straight up! Shes obviously a danger to society.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

forget the psychiatric evaluation, just lock her straight up! Shes obviously a danger to society.

That's not the way things work, Steven.

Why should she not have a psychiatric evaluation?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why should she not have a psychiatric evaluation?

You dont need to test a rabid animal if its rabid, you lock it up.

That's not the way things work, Steven.

Yes, unfortunately in a society gone soft its not the way things work

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

You stab a child for no reason, you get locked up. 

Yes, that should be done regardless of mental illness or age. Not as punishment but to keep the general public safe. Difference is that those who are ill need to be treated accordingly while being locked up.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

You dont need to test a rabid animal if its rabid, you lock it up.

This is a human being, not a rabid animal.

Yes, unfortunately in a society gone soft its not the way things work

Thankfully, society has progressed far beyond the medieval solutions you offer and most recognise that mental illness is not something you automatically punish the person suffering from.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I just wonder how you would feel if this woman is released in 3-4 years and lives beside you and your family if you would still be singing the same tune....

I wouldn't like it, but I also don't like the idea of keeping people locked up after they have been healed, simply to satisfy some people's feelings of vengeance.

Yes, unfortunately in a society gone soft its not the way things work

There are dictatorships that work in the way you seem to be longing for. Modern societies are based on rehabilitation over punishment.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nutty, crazy knife wielding lady . That is the diagnosis. Duh! Three months on medication and therapy? Sounds like a legal tactic by the prosecution to get her well to stand trial.

She will stand I bet and be punished accordingly. That is my opinion. But hey I could be wrong.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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