Police on Thursday arrested a 20-year-old woman after her one-year-old son was found dead in Fukuoka's Minami Ward.
The baby boy, who has been named as Ryusei Yashima, was discovered by officers near a river at around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday night after the boy's great-grandmother contacted police to report that her granddaughter had killed her great-grandson. Police found the baby limp and he was confirmed dead at a hospital around an hour later.
During questioning, the child's mother, who is divorced, told police, "I strangled him to death." She then went to her grandmother's house. Police said the woman has so far given no motive for the crime.
© Compiled from news reports
25 Comments
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Disillusioned
Brrrrr! That is cold!!!
ExportExpert
Education is the missing link here, society needs to educate the young on social issues and relationships, also alittle bit of sex ed wouldn't go astray in this social moral barren land.
yildiray
What on earth are you talking about?
Cricky
It's embarrassing but some sex education at school might help. Many Infants are nothing more than handbags. " Look I have a Baby" I do not like my handbag- gomi
Kevin Lee Brooke
@lucabrasi
Empathy for a cold-hearted murderer. Ha, well there's a concept. I mean, seriously? How on earth can you have any empathy for her when there is not one shred of evidence ( at least according to the article above) that she deserves it. “I strangled him to death.” is ALL it says. Where do find any empathy for this?
Tell you what - how about you close your eyes and employ all the sympathy you possess for the poor, innocent, dead baby. Judging by your previous post, pretty sure you cannot.
yildiray
A 20-year old divorced woman? Poor kid didn't have the best start to life with that :-(
Skeptical Hippo
Why was she given custody of the child in the first place? Oh wait, this is Japan.... Mother always gets sole custody no matter what. The court system should be held accountable for every instance where a divorced mother kills her child because she cannot raise it properly.
yildiray
Ah, I see what you mean - I was referring to the child being born to a mother in that situation. Can't say I pity the mother in any way, shape or form if she is able to take the life of her own child in such a horrible fashion.
lucabrasi
@yildiray
Close your eyes and employ all the empathy you possess. You might just be able to.
gaijinfo
Widespread acceptance of, education about, and access to birth control would have kept this from happening.
papasmurfinjapan
This is a tragedy, an no excuses the mother makes can justify nor atone for the atrocity she has committed. However I do hope that rather than just lock her up, they really try and find out what pushed her over the edge to do this. There are too many stories of mothers killing their babies.
I have heard stories from others about lack of resources/help for women in Japan suffering from PPD. Could a stronger help-network have helped the mother and kept the child alive? What can we as a society (or more importantly community - as this needs to be handled at a local level) do to provide support to mothers who need it? I know I may be sounding a bit preachy here, but I'm starting to worry that I, and the public at large has started to become desensitised to this type of crime... Shrugging our shoulders and saying "shikatanai ne" achieves nothing.
ihavegreatlegs
At least she did not go out dancing and partying like Kacie Anthony did. I feel for the grandmother, as she cared for the little one. The mother needs mental help, and she is not going to get that in this country.
nath
For once I'd like to know the motive for the crime, although I have my suspicions. I hate to think that women would do away with their children just because they're not wanted.
Skeptical Hippo
Exactly!
IMO mothers should undergo a thorough phychiatric evaluation before given sole custody to the child(ren) after or during the divorce procedures. The reason for the divorce (in the first place) could have mentally drained and damaged any mother enough not to be able to raise their child(ren) properly.
Motive?
How about being fed up with life itself. Not loved anymore, divorced, thrown to the curb, no job oportunities, having to live in substandard housing with kids screaming for attention 24/7 not being able to listen to what their mother tells them to do because she raised them to become selfish noisy little brats. Lots of these "mothers" kill their child(ren) with the intent to kill themselves after that. Most don't succeed though and end up only murdering their child(ren).
LoveNot
i am scared this becomes common, happens every month or every week in Japan...
Skeptical Hippo
It already is... It already is...
RAINkyutech
That's too bad. She is as old as I am. Unbelievable.
Tamesu San
Perhaps: "If You Cant Feed Your Baby (Yeah, Yeah) Then Don't Have A Baby (Yeah, Yeah)" ... "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin"
Kevin Lee Brooke
@yiddiray
By the way, if by "kid" you actually meant the infant and NOT the mother, then my apologies for calling you out. I first read it that you meant the "poor" mother, then re-read and realized you might have been referring to the infant.
If you WERE referring to the murderous mother, then the disgust in my first post stands. ;-)
himehentai
But STEVE - I read in the Japanese press that this mother was an unemployed mother. She was NOT working. She was not leaving her child in daycare. She had a supportive family unit who were helping her out.
So why would she kill her child? I thought that the bad mothers were the ones who go out to work?
Maybe it was because she was divorced. That must be it.
himehentai
Aside from steves comments, poor child. RIP wee man. How very, very sad.
steve@CPFC
makimianto; it has been going on since the dawn of time, but we as a civilised society should be doing all we can to see the warning signs and prevent it.
steve@CPFC
Laws should be passed so that children in potentially dangerous situations are monitored regulary by social services. If the mother or rest of the family refuse to comply then the child must be removed and placed in the care of the state for a temporary or possibly permanent basis.
This is not just a problem in Japan. Many countries who are having the economic downturn have cut frontline staff to meet budget cuts. It could be possible the mother was suffering from undiagnosee mental health issues, if so she needs our help if she was just bored or annoyed by baby she needs a suitable term behind bars.
steve@CPFC
himehentai; A tragic and sad death of which i placed no blame on the mother at all. I blame society for this sort of thing and i have stated and will state again taht i am prepared to pay extra taxes to ensure children are protected by the law and social services. Good and bad, black and white , a simplistic view of life and you choose a topic about a childs death to bash me in a vulgar manner.
Kevin Lee Brooke
@yilddiray
Funny. You feel so sorry for the murderer it's actually worthy of a comment from you - buy nary a peep for the victim.
Anyhow... interesting to see how this particular case pans out.
JH