A 72-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of killing his bedridden wife at their home in Yachiyo City, Chiba Prefecture.
According to police, Shigeki Fudo has been beating his wife, punching her in the face since mid-November, Fuji TV reported. On Tuesday afternoon, the couple's daughter contacted police after Fudo told her that her mother went missing. When police visited Fudo's residence, Yachiyo was found dead, lying face up beside a kotatsu table.
Police said Yachiyo had been suffering from a brain debilitating disease for the past two years and that Fudo had been looking after her.
Fudo was quoted by police saying that his wife's condition had deteriorated since last month and she was not able to walk even with his assistance. He said he got irritated and started punching her and that he found her dead on Tuesday morning.
According to a neighbor, Fudo was the quiet type.
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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zones2surf
A sad story. A horrible end to the wife's already difficult life and the end of the husband's life as he knows it.
Alas, we will continue to see more and more of this as Japan's population ages and many families do not have the resources or access to government resources to help care for ageing/disabled family members.
I will not excuse what this man did to his wife. I do wonder, however, about the circumstances around the wife's illness the last two years. I wonder what resources he had access to in order to help with her care. I wonder about the daughter and/or other relatives and what assistance they may have been providing.
Aly Rustom
Really sad, but not surprising. This will occur alot as the population gets older.
KyushuKris
Old people should have the wisdom to know when their time is up, and the courage to take measures appropriately, that's the hard truth of it.
TheGodfather
RIP Yachiyo-sama!! :-(
Disillusioned
It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.
Wc626
He probably never had a criminal record either. More and more of these older folks keep killing their spouses. Japan has the one of the highest prison inmate populations of senior citizens.
souka
I can be wrong but i think most Japanese are kinda quiet.
Frederic Bastiat
If it was known that he had been assaulting his disabled wife, then that fact should have been reported, she should have been placed in proper medical care, and he should have been arrested for the assaults BEFORE this tragedy culminated in her death at his hands. Poor lady, RIP.
Conspiracy Theories
Beating his wife in the face since mid-November. I feel so sorry for the wife. She may have not been able to remember or understand anything dependeding on how severe her condition was, but I'm sure she definitely felt the pain.
clueless
This is just so sad. Can't possibly comment on this any further.