Mother of Japanese girl found dead in home toilet handed suspended sentence for being complicit in abuse
- Nagisa Kurihara’s husband assaulted their 10-year-old daughter, made her stand for hours in a cold bathroom and instructed the mother not to feed her
- A court ruled that Kurihara failed to report the abuse and had complied with her husband’s instructions
A 32-year-old woman was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 months in prison, suspended for five years with probation, for complicity in her husband’s assaults on their 10-year-old daughter who died in January near Tokyo.
The Chiba District Court ruled that Nagisa Kurihara failed to report the abuse inflicted by her husband Yuichiro, 41, on their daughter Mia and complied with his instructions not to feed her, while also recognising the woman had been abused by him.
“The defendant was the sole person who could have extended help (to Mia) but instead pandered to her husband,” the presiding judge, Kenji Koike, said.
Her complicity in the abuse added to Mia’s trauma, he added.
Explaining his reason for giving a suspended sentence with probation, Koike said it was difficult for the woman to resist her husband because of his abuse as well as her mental condition. In earlier hearings, the court heard that she suffers from bipolar disorder and had postnatal depression.
“We want you to think about Mia and spend your days reflecting on yourself” while remaining in society, Koike said after handing down the ruling.
Prosecutors had sought a two-year jail term without suspension, while the defence had called for a suspended sentence.
Kurihara’s husband was indicted for assault resulting in death after Mia was found dead in the bathroom of their home in Noda, Chiba prefecture, on January 24 and has also been charged with assaulting his wife. His trial is pending.
Japanese girl found dead in home toilet pleaded for help from school
The case has attracted international attention, with problems uncovered in the way a child welfare centre, her school and other local authorities responded to Mia’s repeated calls for help.
In November 2017, Mia wrote in a school questionnaire that she was being bullied by her father and was subsequently taken into protective custody for seven weeks. But a local education board was found to have handed the father a copy of Mia’s questionnaire.
After her protective custody ended, with the welfare centre approving her return to her parents, no visits were paid to her home by officials of either the centre or the school to check on her safety.
A member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said in February that the case showed a crucial lack of responsibility on the part of the adults involved.
A government team reviewing the response of the welfare centre and the school concluded on Wednesday that the Kashiwa child welfare centre’s assessment of abuse risk was inadequate.
The joint team of the welfare and education ministries said the centre’s decision to end the protective custody of Mia in December 2017 was based on “insufficient investigations” and it failed to effectively use assessment tools or evaluate the impact of the spousal abuse.
To prevent a recurrence, it called for strengthening cooperation with spousal violence counselling and support centres, promoting the assignment of police personnel and retired officers to child welfare centres and sharing information among authorities on children who are absent from school for a week or longer.
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The trial of Nagisa Kurihara and her depositions have revealed that she had long been under her husband’s control and Mia was deprived of food and sleep, and subjected to severe physical abuse.
The two got married in 2008 and Mia was born the same year. Kurihara’s husband monitored his wife’s behaviour and telephone calls, and the couple divorced three years later.
After getting remarried in 2017, she was subjected to even stricter control and worse physical abuse. She was admitted to a mental hospital later that year after giving birth to a second daughter.
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In the three days leading up to her death, Kurihara’s husband assaulted Mia, made her stand for hours and put her inside a chilly bathroom in cold weather while telling the mother not to feed her, according to her statement.
On the afternoon of January 24, he repeatedly splashed cold water on Mia as she failed to get undressed quickly and prevented her from having a warm shower afterward.
He also assaulted her by sitting on her back and bending her legs, did not allow her to eat dinner or go to bed and kept her in the bathroom. He then told the mother that Mia was unresponsive, according to the statement.
Rescuers responding to an emergency call later in the evening found Mia dead inside the bathroom.
