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Police said Thursday that a 33-year-old woman apparently stabbed her 9-year-old son to death and then hanged herself at their home in Kagoshima.
According to police, the woman, identified as Rika Yamashita, stabbed her son Kosei in the neck and then hanged herself sometime on Wednesday morning, TBS reported. The bodies were found by Yamashita's father when he visited the apartment in the afternoon.
Police said that Yamashita lived alone with her son and that the two of them had recently moved to Kagoshima from another prefecture.
The principal of Kosei's school was quoted as saying that he was a bright boy. However, Yamashita suffered from depression and was worried about the future, according to her relatives.
© Japan Today
27 Comments
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Speed
Die and let live. Don't kill your children. Let them decide that very important issue.
rickyvee
can't wait for the first person to write this: if only the government would admit that there is a mental health problem in Japan, more lives would be saved.
Ewan Huzarmy
"However, Yamashita suffered from depression and was worried about the future, according to her relatives."
As this year draws to an end I can see this becoming a trend.
Spidey
rickyvee at Oct. 11, 2012 - 01:16PM JST can't wait for the first person to write this: if only the government would admit that there is a mental health problem in Japan, more lives would be saved.
No need to wait...
S
Disillusioned
Don't have to. You just did! Or, are you saying there isn't a mental health issue? Yes, that is right! It is completely normal to read about people killing their kids and themselves four or five times a week and to have a suicide rate of around 100 per day. Yeah, completely normal! I guess it is those of us who don't want to kill our kids and/or commit suicide are the ones with mental health issues, right?
Waxman
Only someone with mental issue can do such horrible thing to own family!
Ms. Alexander
Why do these mothers keep thinking they have to end their child(ren)'s lives as well?! I mean, there's a serious issue if these mothers are thinking it's easier to kill themselves than to ask for help!
WilliB
33 and 9... WHY? So sad.
gogogo
Why do parents think they have to kill their children... if you want to die go do it yourself.
Juan Rodriguez
Aberrational thoughts lead to aberrational actions :-/
Elbuda Mexicano
Just sick! Poor little boy! RIP little boy down in Kagoshima
Mike DeJong
Where was the father?
dejaboo
I suffer from a mental illness that flares up from time to time. I had excellent treatment in Japan but I was mature enough to seek help. Still, no matter how much anxiety and darkness I felt, never would I even contemplate hurting my kids. They are the only thing that feels positive at times. And I don't have support either except for my husband who is great when he's home. This society needs to grow up and seek help and give support - will it ever change???
Thunderbird2
So why didn't the parents insist she stay with them? Or get her some help? They knew she was ill... jeez.
Dennis Bauer
@Mike DeJong
uhm, at work maybe?
FightingViking
@Mike DeJong and Dennis Bauer
I believe this answers your question
yasukuni
I wish I could do something.
Elbuda Mexicano
Yasukuni, we can DO something! First dig, deep, deep inside of our own hearts and find the courage to stand up and say we will do something, like call the police, talk to teachers, parents etc..open up our hearts to these people who have no one to talk to. IMHO.
Qwerty2012
The social stigma is so strong that many broken families conceal their predicament rather than seek help. Children from such families are also prone to bullying by their peers. There should be a bold community outreach/support program to provide relief for such distressed families, in tandem with private-public initiatives to set up childcare and find employment for single mothers and fathers, foster community among them, etc. Concrete steps need to be taken, there's a lot of potential, why those are not taken is a great big mystery.
bluesea67
Another one through the cracks. I feel for both of them the poor little boy probably had to witness for yearsthe downward spiral of his mother. RIP
tmarie
Another day, another dead child....
Qwerty2012
I don't get the hostility towards the mother, she's also a victim of the circumstances that led to suh a tragedy.
nath
There is nothing else to say on this subject. Far too often this is happening and it is sad and disturbing.
Stephen Jez
I really hate these kind of stories and mother's kill their children way too often in Japan for flakey reasons like "worried about the future". There are couples who try and try to have kids and then selfish parents like this one just throw their child's life away.
yasukuni
I'm just about to the point where I want to wear a Tshirt saying "thinking about suicide? Talk to me".
TSRnow
Yasukuni, if you're going to do it please do it in Japanese. And at the same time, maybe add "Your child is happier alive than dead!"