Gifu woman charged in death of 4th daughter by spiking IV drip with water

Thursday 15th January, 06:51 AM JST

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tkoind2 at 11:25 AM JST - 15th January

JapanHusker. "empathy for the guilty, instead of sympathy for the victim(s)."

We should feel compassion for both. The guilty must be held accountable for their actions. Treated if mentally ill, punished if not. And efforts taken to reform the person. We can have human empathy while upholding our social standards and the law.

Of course our first thoughts and feelings are with the victims. But unless we try to understand the guilty, how can we learn to prevent similar issues in the future? We must do both.
paisley at 11:37 AM JST - 15th January

I dont think mental illness is an excuse for murder or harm to another human much less a child. I can sympathize with the woman if she felt so unloved that she felt she needed to create scenerios that would bring attention and sympathy to herself. That is sad. HOWEVER, as a human she still had the capacity to say "no" to her urges. I dont think her mind made her do this. I think she did it because she was swimming in self pity and lonliness and contrived her own way of getting attention. Some will call that a mental illness which is fine, but I think she knew murder and selfishly harming her children just to bring attention to herself was wrong. Does society exempt responsibility all under the umbrella of "mental illness"? Even the mentally ill have a sense of knowing right from wrong. It should be an insult to the truly mentally ill to suggest otherwise.
whyamiinjapan at 11:49 AM JST - 15th January

Whatever you want to say about it, the lady is sick. What about the poor children?
tmarie at 12:37 PM JST - 15th January

The women is sick. Shame no one stopped and helped her - and her kids after she killed the first few. Again, where is the husband?

As I've said, the government should be educating people on what it means to have kids. Folks here have no experience with kids until they have their own. Moms going crazy with the stress and no help. Babysitters are much needed here - as is mental health services and better knowledge.
JapanHusker at 01:29 PM JST - 15th January

Paisley - Thank you.
techall at 01:34 PM JST - 15th January

Munchausen syndrome by proxym is well known in the west and hospital staff and administrators are trained to look for it but it still happens. I doubt if most hospital staff in Japan even know it exists.
dennis0bauer at 03:09 PM JST - 15th January

well now everybody know what a "nice" nursing mother she is o__0
Apsara at 03:49 PM JST - 15th January

Mental illness is obviously not an excuse for killing one's children but it certainly gives a reason as to why she did it. As above, Munchausen by proxy is well documented, she is not the only mother who has ever done something like this by a long shot, and it certainly isn't restricted to Japan, so anybody blaming Japanese society is barking up the wrong tree.
BBLeo at 04:49 PM JST - 15th January

A good mother? You must be kidding me all along and now she is playing 'Dominos' with cops. Good mother wouldn't kill their own children. Hang her. And after three long years cops will start their investigation.
jwills79 at 05:37 PM JST - 15th January

Like I said in the thread about the women slamming her child. There are underlining issues involved here that no one wants to address. There are not enough support services or even acknowledgment. Which why these problems will continue.
usaexpat at 12:09 AM JST - 16th January

As Techall stated: Munchhausen by proxy, this woman is mentally ill. Not an excuse but certainly a reason why she could do such a thing.
DoctorLady at 04:31 AM JST - 16th January

They can find her both guilty and mentally ill. She may be "bonkers" or have issues, but she DID know the consequences of harming her children. As long as she knew what she was doing would hurt them, then she is guilty. I'm glad she was honest about pleading guilty because it simplifies things. I'm embarassed for the Japanese hospitals. After the first and second child died, did they not investigate this woman or call the police? If four daughters were murdered, then what will happen to the remaining living children? Where was the father during all this?
Molenir at 09:53 AM JST - 16th January

Truly, where was the autopsy on these children. 4 dead girls, after the first 2, you would think they should have started looking closer at these deaths to see if there was a connection. Surely after the 3rd one died, and but 4. And even then they didn't catch her until someone in the hospital got suspicious about the 5th daughter...?
JapanHusker at 09:12 PM JST - 17th January

And didn't family and friends start to wonder when her kids started dropping like flies? Doesn't anybody EVER do ANYTHING here when they know damn well something fishy is going on with their relative/acquaintance? I mean, who has THAT bad of luck - four kids dying one by one mysteriously? JHC people have their heads in the sand here...
ralphrepo at 01:08 AM JST - 20th January

This woman needs to have court ordered sterility, as there is really no cure for this. Then she should spend the rest of her life in jail. Munchausen by proxy is well known; especially with emergency workers and pediatricians. The most dangerous kinds of those afflicted are the health care worker who make their patients sicker, and then "rescue" them.