Japanese woman arrested a year after newborn baby’s body discovered in Tokyo park
- The woman, 23, told police she gave birth in a restroom at Tokyo’s Haneda airport
- She was identified from security camera footage installed near the park, which showed a person resembling her holding a bag
The Metropolitan Police Department is also considering building a murder case against Sayuri Kitai, a 23-year-old clothing store clerk from Kobe, western Japan, as an autopsy showed her daughter died of acute suffocation and tissue paper was discovered in her throat.
The baby’s partially buried body was discovered on November 8, 2019. The woman has since indicated to the police that she had thoughts of killing her daughter, according to investigators.
Kitai, who was arrested and taken into custody on Sunday, arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport from Kobe on November 3 last year, the same day investigators suspect she buried the baby at Italy Park in Higashishimbashi, a district dotted with skyscraper office buildings and luxury high-rise condominiums.
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“I gave birth to the baby in a restroom of Haneda airport,” an investigator quoted Kitai as saying.
The suspect was a university student at the time of the incident and had travelled to Tokyo on a job hunting trip, according to investigators.
The police identified Kitai based on footage from a security camera installed near the park, which showed a person resembling her holding a bag, the investigators added.
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After receiving an emergency call on November 8, the police disclosed that the baby’s head and part of her arm were found protruding above the ground in a grassy area at the park.
Investigations into killings in Japan sometimes begin with body abandonment charges being laid before other charges like murder or manslaughter are added.
