Ibaraki woman held after slamming 2-yr-old daughter’s head into floor

Tuesday 03rd February, 10:50 AM JST

IBARAKI —

A 23-year-old woman was arrested for assault on Monday accused of hanging her 2-year-old daughter upside down by the legs and slamming her head into the concrete floor in the entrance of their apartment in Koga City, police said Tuesday.

Police allege that Sachiko Amagai shook her daughter up and down, hitting her head on the floor several times at around 3 a.m. Monday. She called for an ambulance about 45 minutes later. The girl is in hospital, where she remains unconscious in a critical condition. Hospital staff contacted police and said they suspected Amagai of child abuse.

Amagai has admitted to assaulting her daughter because she would not stop crying, police quoted her as saying. Police are continuing to question Amagai and said the child may have been abused on a regular basis.

Police said Amagai lived with her de facto 37-year-old husband and her daughter, and that the neighborhood was quiet, with one resident of the apartment block telling police that she thought the child had been put outside crying in the middle of the night. Another resident said she was woken up by some thumping sounds which she thought sounded like someone jumping.

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sensei258 at 06:53 PM JST - 3rd February

Damn, I guess bashing her head in on the concrete would eventually stop the baby from crying. And, I think "de facto 37-year-old husband" is a nice way to say she was living with a boyfriend who was 14 years older than her.
sensei258 at 06:54 PM JST - 3rd February

By the way, expect a suspended sentence because the judge will understand her stressful living situation.
Midnightpromise at 07:32 PM JST - 3rd February

1 reason I could not be a cop:

This women would probaby have been shot while resisting arrest...............
Squally at 11:49 PM JST - 3rd February

Oh you guys are a riot! While I don't approve of what she did, matter of fact I think it's appaling. However, leave your god out of it and stop applying your standards to other people.
30061015 at 12:55 AM JST - 4th February

What would Darwin have concluded if he observed mothers in the animal world turning on their offspring and doing this kind of abuse to their young? Would their even be a theory of evolution? This social disease, this rot in the human soul, is a result of a wholesale divorce of humanity from the natural world. The promise of the material to bring happiness has come crashing down for millions worldwide. Hopefully, its a chance to examine what the hell we are doing to ourselves and others. Without nature their is no nurture; only meaningless lives devoid of the spiritual, perpetuating the myth of materialism, consumerism and banal urbanity to the next hapless generation.
airrunwesker at 02:10 AM JST - 4th February

DOn't starting talking Darwin unless you have read at least "2" of his ten books! And don't bring God into this this! I respect both! After all, Darwin was studying to be an Agelican priest.

Now back to the subject... She seems unhappy, and she is married to a 37 year old dude. I repsect the fact she called for an ambulance and owned up to what she did. She did those two things because she cares about her daughter. I hope she gets the help she needs. Her family could also pitch in! (If they haven't)!
sydenham at 05:52 AM JST - 4th February

JapanHusker, you don't have to be a Japan apologist to point out the obvious. In fact the idea that neighbors ignore seemingly suspicious behavior became clarified in a study originally done in the US in the 1970s.

People living in cities tend to do this more, quite unconsciously. You have to admit Japan is "fairly crowded.

But the most important point, if YOU read the article, ONE person heard the crying, and ANOTHER person heard the thumping. Maybe what we have here is not Japan apologist, but Japan basher. you.
Molenir at 06:04 AM JST - 4th February

I'm not an apologist here. I think what the woman did was despicable. Having said this though, I think everyone can understand the actions. Babies make so much noise, and that noise can easily get on your last nerve. However even though I understand the pressures of parenthood, it doesn't mitigate the crime. I sincerely hope she is severely punished for this.
Sarge at 06:43 AM JST - 4th February

"One resident of the apartment block teling police she thught the child had been put outside crying in the middle of the night"

But she didn't feel any need to call the police, the "mother" was the one who called them.
JapanHusker at 01:04 PM JST - 4th February

sydenham at 05:52 AM JST - 4th February JapanHusker, you don't have to be a Japan apologist to point out the obvious. In fact the idea that neighbors ignore seemingly suspicious behavior became clarified in a study originally done in the US in the 1970s. People living in cities tend to do this more, quite unconsciously. You have to admit Japan is "fairly crowded. But the most important point, if YOU read the article, ONE person heard the crying, and ANOTHER person heard the thumping. Maybe what we have here is not Japan apologist, but Japan basher. you.

WHATEVER. If YOU would have read the full post to which I was responding, YOU have read that the poster was defending the neighbors saying " "Probably because they didn't know! ...Or do what most people do which is think it is a bump in the night, roll over and go back to sleep? I pick option B unless I can hear someone screaming. "

My point, there WAS screaming and thumping and 2 different people heard it.

Learn to read, or at least comprehend English before pointing fingers a me - cuz they might get broken. APOLOGIST.
sydenham at 03:22 PM JST - 4th February

JapanHusker, if one person hears one thing and another hears another, how are they supposed to put the two together, ESP? Contrary to some claims, Japanese can't communicate THAT well without speaking.

How would you have reacted if you had been the neighbor? Like this?

"I hear bumping. It must be a child being slammed head-first into the concrete by her mother. I should call the police because if I don't some guy on JT is going to condemn all 126 million Japanese individuals as cold-hearted killing machines that treat their kids worse than animals."

I can read fine, and I can read you like a book. It makes you feel better to write off all Japanese as one and the same. That's called racism.
30061015 at 03:36 PM JST - 4th February

don't bring God into this this!

You hear that God?... Stay out of it!! Why should YOU care if a mother wopps her baby on the floor, or for that matter, dumps it in a toilet to die? Yup, that's what we need; less God, less humanity, less love, less life...more of the same.
Sammi33 at 08:18 PM JST - 5th February

Seems like the general idea of parenting here is ignore babies when they cry, then when they get about 1yr or so do everything possible to make them stop crying, like stuffing baby-senbei in their mouths, getting angry, etc. Sometimes kids cry, you have to find the reason. If it was a bad dream, stress, etc help them deal with it, if they are being brats and crying because they can't get their way, that's when you should ignore them, sit them in a chair facing a corner and tell them to come back when they can be good. And using candy as a rare treat when they are good instead of shoving it in their mouths 24/7.
forensicmommy at 07:45 PM JST - 6th February

fusedentropy

I agree with your comments 100%. You have the genius (or common sense) award of the day!
the_sicilian at 07:19 AM JST - 8th February

Another to agree with Fusedentropy: If two consenting adults want to have children, they are basically forsaking their single lives to be parents. It's really not optional. It's a requirement.

There are some people who just don't understand this. Now, this young girl (23) made this kid with an extremely older man (14 years counts as extremely), so I'm sure thee was pressure by both of them to basically not be a parent, and live normal "single" lives. And this probably pushed her to the boiling point after repeated abuse.

It would have been better for the child if they would have drive to the baby hatch, and left a note. Poor kid.

Ciao