Woman, infant son die in apparent murder-suicide

Yikes .... extreme case of PPD? RIP

No one noticed the dead wife on the ground before her husband came home to find her? then he had to go into the house and find a dead son? That's absolutely horrible, and while I don't know how the relationship was between him and his wife, that cannot be what you expect to come home to, or recover from. As for the wife, yet another coward who selfishly ends her own life taking another person with them, and this time again it's a child. For people like nigelboy who can't see the difference between a man like Robin Williams killing himself and a murder-suicide like this, here is yet another wake-up call on how selfish, cowardly, and downright cruel people who commit suicide can be. This woman is scum for taking the child with her. I hope the father can recover.

Moderator: Please repost without the references to Robin Williams and nigelboy.

A particularly sad story. However, the 70 or so other suicides that will have occured in Japan by the end of today are probably equally as tragic if we were to investigate them all.

M3M3M3: "However, the 70 or so other suicides that will have occured in Japan by the end of today are probably equally as tragic if we were to investigate them all"

This is made tragic due to the fact that the husband came home and found wife and baby dead at the wife's hands. It is tragic for him, and for the baby. It's sad that the mother got to the point where she felt she needed to end things, but I've no sympathy for her whatsoever for feeling the need to take the baby with her. She was a selfish coward, and as such, many of the other suicides you mention are likely more tragic in regards to the person(s) who carried it out.

smith, I don't think it was a case of "take the baby with her". It's not the case that she jumped off the building with the baby.

Horrible to imagine, but perhaps the woman snapped and killed the baby (found on a matress) and then decided to off herself as a result (by jumping off her apartment building).

extreme case of PPD?

That's just a convenient term used for someone that cannot handle having children and, in most cases, has no support from anyone, including the husband. Yeah, it is a real affliction, but one that is easily diagnosed and treated.

@smithinjapan

Suicide is by definition an insanely irrational act. I don't think it's fair to place any blame on those who aren't truly in control of their mental faculties. Postpartum depression (PPD) may have been a factor here, where killing of the child is unfortunately quite common.

Despicable!

M3M3M3: "I don't think it's fair to place any blame on those who aren't truly in control of their mental faculties."

It is when they take people with them. You don't just say, "Shouganai, ne!" when someone murders someone else. We don't know that she had PPD, for starters, and if she did why did she not seek help instead of offing her kid and then herself? Sorry, but it's perfectly fair to blame her for murdering her child.

fxgai: "smith, I don't think it was a case of "take the baby with her"

There are far more cases of a person having decided to kill themself and take others with them (for various reasons) than that of which you state as a hypothetical situation after. Why do you imagine that its possible she did the latter, but it's not a case of "she didn't take the baby with her" (which she did, to death, if she decided to kill herself before killing the child). We see this twice a week or so.

I hate this, there needs to be more support lines to stop this

We don't know that she had PPD, for starters, and if she did why did she not seek help

Yeah, why didn't she think of that... Methinks you are too harsh. Ever had a baby?

you state as a hypothetical situation

No one knows for sure except her, but the evidence is she didn't jump with the baby. She killed the baby, then subsequently jumped off her apartment building.

if she decided to kill herself before killing the child

I didn't read any evidence of her deciding as such. While that's not implausible, I think it's more plausible that she killed herself out of horror at what she'd done to her child.

Awful tragedy. How long before Japanese society can open up a real dialogue about suicide and mental illness.? Will it take a generational shift or is the prevailing attitude too deeply engrained in the national character?

It doesn't say if the baby was injured in any way... Couldn't it have been a case of "sudden crib death" and the mother became extremely distraught when she found him ? (There are not enough details in this article.)

So selfish of the mother to kill her baby! If she wanted to commit suicide she should leave her baby alone! Poor little innocent thing, RIP little baby!

Suicide is not something that happens to other people. It happens to people we know. It happens to ourselves.

I understand the emotions about the child, but I think any anger at the woman is misplaced. I don't think you can say that she was in the correct frame of mind to call what she did murder. She might have actually thought that she was somehow taking the child with her rather than abandoning him. Clearly, people suffering from mental illness act in mentally ill ways.

Maybe if people were more understanding, empathetic, forgiving and slower to assign blame, those in need would be more open to seeking help and there would be less suicides in the first place.

"...but I've no sympathy for her whatsoever for feeling the need to take the baby with her. She was a selfish coward..."

Comments like the one above are the reason why I'm starting to withdraw from reading people's comments. How can someone be so judgemental without knowing the people involved. You only read a few sentences, but you write like you know it all!

Don't judge, just respect the family!

I don't judge... I feel sorry and sad everytime I read a news like that...

Taketomo has raised excellent questions. If only there were answers coming any time soon.

Condolences to the family.

smithinjapan: "She was a selfish coward,"

Aah, classic smithinjapan again! Has not the slightest understanding about suicide motives and the desperation behind it but is quick and completely lacking empathy to call anyone a selfish coward who dares to take his/her life!

As for the child... It is not uncommon in Japan to take your kids with you into death to spare them a miserable, shameful life because the mother killed herself. It is actually rooted in Japanese history and is related to the mentality in Japan of choosing death over losing face. It is sad but realistically seen, when choosing to go the path of death, it's not a devious choice to take your kids with you.

@smithinjapan

you can'tmake such comments unless you were in the mothers shoes we don't know what led her to do such a tragic thing mom and baby is gone let them rest in peace may her husband/baby father find some closure to try to make sense of the loss of his family lets not blame the victim but show some sense or remorse for her.

Don't judge? There is a small difference between a judgement and a conclusion. Conclusions are based on experience and knowledge. I conclude she was a crazed selfish girl-dog that killed her kid in an uncontrolled fit of rage due to not being emotionally mature enough to handle raining a child and then, due to further emotional immaturity, she took her own life out of guilt for her inability to cope with the reality of child raring. I would further hypothesize her husband was a cold hearted salaryman that spent more time at work and in soap clubs than at home with his family. That's not a judgement! It's a conclusion based on experience and knowledge!

It is so depressing that we hear about all of these suicides going on in Japan. Not to mention that the infants are victims of these cases as well. R.I.P.

I don't judge... >

I do. She's a selfish idiot.

Obviously, we do not know the full circumstances and all the details surrounding every suicide. Was the person who took his or her life mentally ill? Was he or she so deeply depressed as to be unbalanced or otherwise emotionally disturbed? Was the suicide a tragic, pitiful call for help that went unheeded too long or progressed faster than the victim intended? Did he or she somehow not understand the seriousness of the act? Was he or she suffering from a chemical imbalance that led to despair and a loss of self-control? That is why judgment for a person who commits suicide is not always as cut-and-dried as some of us seem to think.

Extremely hard feeling the child Is most valuable property in each and every ones life as same time mom is the most important person for everything but killing a own baby is definitely sick like depression mentality by the way responsibility goes to husband he's the one who holding family tree"

I love how folks try to pull the Japanese culture into this like they know better. Today's generation does not think that way anymore....anyone under 40 really has no clue about that kind of culture and definitely no longer live it. I have been here since 1992 and have witnessed the decline of this nations culture. We can thank the internet/Video games/Cell phones for that.

Should not have killed the baby. It had the right to live. The jump paid the price for the crime. I am always amazed at the number of people who think social services and counseling is the answer to every crime or suicide that pops up on this site. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are a whole world of folks out there that are beyond help or simply do not want help. It seems to infuriate a large number of posters that anyone would take their own life in a situation like this. She had the courage to pay for her crime. It seems a lot of people get a kick out of seeing someone mentally suffer while some Y10,000 yen an hour shrink sits by the couch and asks them how they feel about their mother. It was her choice to die and she took it, get over it and or buy the app.

I'm so sorry for the husband. Coming home and finding the woman you love dead and in such way. Then going into your place and finding the kid dead as well. Must be awfully sad. Can't even imagine. My condolences for him.