Japan shocked by case of poisoned girl as child abuse rates soar: ‘I’m speechless’
- A Tokyo man and his wife are accused of killing their 4-year-old child, in a case experts describe as ‘unusual’ even as Japan’s child abuse cases have hit a record high
- Observers suggest some parents are taking their financial ‘stress’ out on children, while the spike in reports could be linked to greater awareness of the problem
Police in Japan reported a record number of child abuse cases last year, with experts suggesting that parents facing rising prices and stagnant wages were taking their frustrations out on children, while more cases are coming to light because schools are being more proactive in identifying victims.
A total of 122,806 cases were reported to child welfare centres across the country in 2023, a sharp increase of 6.1 per cent from the previous year, according to preliminary figures released by the National Police Agency on February 8. The number of cases has risen every year since records were first compiled in 2004.
While one expert says Japanese society is becoming partially accustomed to repeated media reports of abuse, some cases still have the power to shock.
There has been an outpouring of anger on social media after police Wednesday arrested Kenichi Hosoya, 43, and his wife Shiho, 37, for the alleged killing of their four-year-old daughter in March last year.
Police were called to the family’s home in Tokyo last year, after receiving a call that Yoshiki Hosoya had been found unconscious. The girl was confirmed dead in a hospital an hour later.
Police were suspicious of Yoshiki’s death and over the last year gathered sufficient information to issue arrest warrants. According to local media reports, an autopsy found the antifreeze agent ethylene glycol and large amounts of olanzapine, a medicine for treating mental conditions, in the child’s body.
A search of the couple’s computer turned up online purchases of the chemical and the drug, while it was also reported that ethylene glycol was detected in the body of Hosoya’s older sister, who died in 2018 at the age of 41.
“It is a tragic case, but it is also an unusual case,” said Fujiko Yamada, who founded the Child Maltreatment Centre in Kanagawa Prefecture 26 years ago. “Yoshiki’s death appears to have been premeditated and planned over a long time, while most cases involving the death of a child are spur-of-the-moment incidents.