Police in Ikoma, Nara Prefecture, have arrested a 39-year-old man on suspicion of killing his 2-year-old son by confining him in a plastic storage case, where he died of hypoxia.
According to police, Yusuke Inoue placed his son Yukiya and his 3-year-old daughter in the case at their residence at around 5:50 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Fuji TV reported. He placed the boy on the bottom and the girl on top of him. The case was 80 cms long, 40 cms wide and 30 cms tall, with two clasps on the top. It could not be opened from the inside.
About 20 minutes later, Inoue noticed Yukiya had lost consciousness and called 119. Inoue’s wife said she was in the kitchen cooking at the time and apparently was unaware of what was going on.
Yukiya was taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead. His sister suffered no injury, police said.
Inoue was quoted by police as saying he had placed the children in the case to discipline them because they were loud in the living room and hit the TV set. He said he had done the same thing many times before as a means of discipline. Inoue insisted to police that he did not mean to kill Yukiya and that his actions were just part of parenting.
Police said Tuesday that Inoue will also be charged with the attempted murder of his daughter.
Meanwhile, media reported that a call was made to the children’s consultation office Ikoma last December by a neighbor who heard children crying loudly from inside the apartment.
Officials visited the residence twice to check on the mother and the children, but there seemed to be nothing wrong and so they did not take any measures at the time.
Source: Japan Today Video and image: ANN
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