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Baby drowns in bathtub while mother apparently drunk

45 Comments

An 11-month old baby boy is presumed to have drowned while taking a bath with his mother who was drunk at the time, police in Tokyo said.

According to police, the baby’s father notified emergency services at around 6 p.m. on Saturday, saying that his son was floating in the bathtub at the family’s apartment in Shinjuku’s Hyakunincho area, Fuji TV reported.

The baby was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead later on.

At the time of the incident, the father was in a separate room, while the baby was in the bathroom with his mother. The father was concerned when he noticed that his wife had left the bathroom alone, prompting him to check upon his son immediately. He then found the boy floating unconscious in the bathtub.

The mother was drunk at the time of the incident, police said.

The family were living in an apartment for civil servants.

Police said an autopsy will be carried out to determine the exact cause of death.

© Japan Today

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45 Comments
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Oh yikes, wasn't there a similar case a couple of years ago?

3 ( +6 / -3 )

....don't drink and bath... even alone is dangerous..

I was going to say the mother shouldn't even be drinking if she had a baby... but the baby was 11 month old, so may be he stopped to drink breast milk? (don(t know it seems too soon).

Too much stupid parents on the news lately...

2 ( +5 / -3 )

How awful, she must have been really hammered, messed up!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

"the baby was in the bathroom with his mother"

But of course the mother didn't actually DROWN THE BABY.

No way. In fact, I feel sorry for the mother who had to hear the dreadful news after she had sobered up. I mean how will she ever get over her tragic ordeal and rebuild her shattered life?

Japan is good at technology. They should invent a bathtub with a built-in breath-test so that the water automatically empties when the drunk mother is over the limit. That would ensure that this king of tragedy never happens again.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

An 11-month old baby boy is [not] PRESUMED to have drowned

-16 ( +4 / -20 )

At the time of the incident, the father was in a separate room, while the baby was in the bathroom with his mother. The father was concerned when he noticed that his wife had left the bathroom alone, prompting him to check upon his son immediately. He then found the boy floating unconscious in the bathtub.

And why didn't Dad notice his drunk wife attempting to bath their son?

10 ( +15 / -5 )

bit early to be that hammered on your day off,isn't it?

Why assume it was her day off? Odds are it's her husband's job as komuin that gives them the access to living in the apartment and just maybe there are other more serious issues involved that make her drink.

Seems to me that her drinking and taking care of her son were probably not the first time they occurred, but Dad sounds like he was blind to what was going on around him, leaving the child in his wives care.

Thank it TOTALLY a guess on my part, but I dont think it's too hard to imagine that it may be fact.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

TheGodfather: "In fact, I feel sorry for the mother who had to hear the dreadful news after she had sobered up. I mean how will she ever get over her tragic ordeal and rebuild her shattered life?"

You feel sorry for a MURDERER? Do you also feel sorry for people when they get drunk and drive a car, causing the death of others? because there is NO difference here, and it's even MORE of a crime because it's the murder of her own child. So, if you feel sorry for her, and if you feel it is not your fault, you are saying that people who drink and drive are not to blame if others die, and we should feel sorry for the drivers.

I just KNEW some people were going to come on here pitying the woman. It's nearly as pathetic as what the woman did herself. Yes, she should feel sorry, for sure, but she should feel sorry behind bars for a very, very long time.

Yubaru: Perhaps dad didn't know she was drunk, or was at least semi-monitoring the situation, and hence the alarm bells when she came out alone. For all we know he was against it and tried to stop her from doing it but she insisted and he let it go. So, yeah, maybe he was somewhat negligent if he did know the extent of her intoxication.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Does no one know what "Drink responsibly" means? Well, I guess they'd have to know what "responsible" means first...

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Does no one know what "Drink responsibly" means? Well, I guess they'd have to know what "responsible" means first...

Yes, all the people who don't accidentally drown their kids while drinking. Which is, you know, pretty much everyone.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Japan is good at technology. They should invent a bathtub with a built-in breath-test so that the water automatically empties when the drunk mother is over the limit. That would ensure that this king of tragedy never happens again.

Whether an attempt at sarcasm or not, that takes the biscuit as the most ridiculous thing I've read on here in a while.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

In this case can the mother be tried for murder or negligent homicide and sent to jail?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Hang on a minute! There is something seriously wrong here! She left the bathroom by herself leaving the kid floating? I reckon she has killed the kid.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

A drunken accident? I have my doubts.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

How do we know she was drunk? Are we just supposed to take the police's word? Maybe she killed the kid on purpose and they just said she was drunk because it sounds better.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Tessa: "Two thumbs up. If you've got a small child in your care, then you've got absolutely no business drinking on your watch."

Well, I suppose then we have to define what 'in your care' means, because I think so long as someone else is looking after the child when you get ripped then it's alright. But situations like this, absolutely.

It doesn't matter if it was an accident or not, she should be charged with murder. You can argue involuntary if you like, and it might have merit, but anything less is simply wrong.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

while mother apparently drunk

And that is the excuse she'll use. Right there. A few tearful apologies and all witll be forgiven

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Everyone is so keen to judge without waiting to hear all the facts. It's entirely possible this woman was a terrible mother and should have never been allowed to take care of her baby alone. It's also entirely possible that this woman was suffering from a severe and debilitating form of post-natal depression and left feeling at her wits end with little help in a country that offers little recognition or support for an array of mental health conditions. Either way she'll have to live with the ramifications of her actions for the rest of her life. It's a very sad situation, whatever the causes.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

IMO people like that should get sterilized... or at the very least get their right to raise children revoked forever.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Uh! ...husband (who was in another room) was alarmed when the wife left the bathroom alone!(or she assured him that she had drowned the baby). ...drunk woman was taking a bath with the baby? ( usually you wouldn't take a bath when you are drunk, how about taking one with a baby?) Am so sorry for being judgement but my instinct says ,'no'

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Puts fingers in ears - 'there is no problem with child abuse in Japan, there is no problem with child abuse in Japan, there is no ....'

4 ( +6 / -2 )

"It's also entirely possible that this woman was suffering from a severe and debilitating form of post-natal depression and left feeling at her wits end with little help in a country that offers little recognition or support for an array of mental health conditions. Either way she'll have to live with the ramifications of her actions for the rest of her life"

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

An 11-month old baby boy is [not] PRESUMED to have drowned

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Everyone is so keen to judge without waiting to hear all the facts.

Unless you end up in the police station interrogating room or can read the mind of the woman there is no way you will ever "hear all the facts" . And that is one fact you can bank on.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Yes, all one can do is parody the pathetic losers...

FYI, the dictionary definition of "parody" is: "writing, ​music, ​art, ​speech, etc. that ​intentionally ​copies the ​style of someone... making the ​features or ​qualities of the ​original more ​noticeable in a way that is ​humorous"

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/parody

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A baby can drown in 2 inches of water. Mother was too liquored up... recipe for disaster. I would presume this is an accident, but one of the kind that could have easily been prevented.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

If it was an accident, it is of course very tragic, but it could also have been a sneaky way to cover up a murder, couldn't it?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nicholassix: "It's also entirely possible that this woman was suffering from a severe and debilitating form of post-natal depression and left feeling at her wits end..."

Ah, here we go! Never the woman's fault. I always love the people who jump on here to protect a woman, no matter how heinous the crime, and say, "Don't be so quick to judge!", etc.

The woman killed her baby. End of (baby's) story. PPD and PND are excuses too many people use to forgive murder and/or neglect. It doesn't matter if she WASN'T suffering from these illnesses, in the minds of many she will be regardless. Help is not as available as it should be, but it's out there. If she needs it, let her now get it from prison -- and preferably for the next 10 years or more, with a picture of her child always within reach.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

theory's and accusations aside this is a tragedy and one that is just beginning for the family. not just the nuclear family but the extended family, grandparents, uncles and aunts.

i am just filled with sadness

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Japan is good at technology. They should invent a bathtub with a built-in breath-test so that the water automatically empties when the drunk mother is over the limit. That would ensure that this king of tragedy never happens again.

Didn't know drunk mothers bathing their babies was the norm in Japan.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Nicholassix: "It's also entirely possible that..."

Ah, here we go! Never the woman's fault.

How is pointing out a possibility equal to absolving her of blame? Where exactly has Nicholassix said that the existence of this possibility equates to the woman being innocent?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

It will be interesting to see if the autopsy brings up any signs of prior abuse.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Why are the mothers doing everything?

Couldn't the father have taken care of the baby for a few hrs. while mom went out for a couple drinks? Or is this just another typical japanese dad who eats, sleeps, does no chores (+no child-rearing skills whatsoever) and off to the office 6 days per wk, 14 hrs?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

"The farce of equality",. What has it achieved? Too often arrogance, irresponsibility, a highlighting of lack of character, friction and higher divorce rates. What a mess.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The woman killed her baby. End of

Gee Smith, this one really takes the biscuit. Try to remember that the thoughts that circulate your mind and reality are two different things.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Unless the intent was actually murder, you have to be pretty wasted to allow your own child to drown. Which begs the question why, if she was obviously that wasted, Daddy hadn't noticed and/or taken on the job himself?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

"if she was obviously that wasted..."

It was the POLICE who said she was drunk. And you believe them?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

It was the POLICE who said she was drunk. And you believe them?

Just like for drunk driving, there are tests. If you don't even believe the police on this. Now like for driving accidents, being stoned is not an excuse, on the contrary.

Why are the mothers doing everything?

Maybe the father helped her... I think a kid would being drowned would scream or makee noises by kicking. So the other person in the flat not hearing anything... I hope they investigate every family member.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

How tragic.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This is the second time this has happened this year.

It was the POLICE who said she was drunk. And you believe them?

No, it was the woman who said she was drunk. I don't necessarily believe her.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

We have an 11 month old and I was thinking about this story during bath time last night. I have a really hard time believing this story.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Maybe the father helped her... I think a kid would being drowned would scream or makee noises by kicking.

I don't agree with you. They can be drowned quietly.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nothing much to say..They are irresponsible, careless and heartless! Idiocy has been prevailing, it prevails and will always prevail in this society! RIP little baby! :( :( :(

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Those are young couples who premature marriage whith no family and mature adult responsibility. Thats it. Drunk. No excuse.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Nothing much to say..They are irresponsible, careless and heartless! Idiocy has been prevailing, it prevails and will always prevail in this society! RIP little baby! :( :( :(

I mostly agree with you.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"No, it was the woman who said she was drunk"

The article IN FACT states that is was the POLICE who said that the woman was drunk. It does not say that the POLICE SAID that the MOTHER SAID that she was drunk. It doesn't say that the POLICE SAID that the FATHER SAID that she was drunk. It doesn't say that at all.

The article clearly says that it is indeed the POLICE who are making excuses for the mother in order to keep this out of the CRIME section in order to keep the statistics down.

What part of INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD ABUSE don't you understand?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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