Mother suspected in murder of 1-month-old baby boy

RIP poor infant. Sad story.

Possibly, this little baby could have been saved from being murdered by its mother if the baby hatch system was national. It's so sad that so many childless couples would give anything to have kids and this selfish monster just kills hers after one month because it was too hard. Weak mate! Just bloody pathetically weak! And, don't give me that post-natal depression crap either. Just a selfish psycho!

I believe this was a forced double suicide. (無理心中 muri shinnju)

She was quoted as saying she had been struggling to look after the baby since he was born, TV Asahi reported.

1-month-old baby boy

This is terribly sad on so many levels I think it is impossible to count them.

It's just heart-breaking that the Japanese people's way of solving problems is to kill themselves. Or attempt to, anyway.

The society as a whole needs to change the way they think and grow people as individuals rather than groupies so that when sh!t hits the fan, they know how to deal with it - i.e. go ask for help.

Next time give the baby up for adoption and go jump off the Rainbow bridge.

Struggling....for one month ! Pathetic excuse for a human being should be sterilized and locked up.

damn...I'm sick of seeing stories like this. I don't know how in the world anyone can do this!

This sounds very cruel. We've read many about many child death cases but what sort of will does it take to stab an innocent baby with a knife in the chest. This sounds very gruesome. Japanese aren't willing to consider the idea of demonic possession but maybe they should.

Another sad story. People need to ask for help, and neighbours need to be, well, neighbourly.

Don't just smile and say everything is okay while inside you're tearing your heart out... tell people what's wrong. Family, friends... even doctors. There really does need to be a shift in attitudes towards people seeking morale boosts and emotional support.

RIP little baby.

@disillusioned

You said not to give you that post-natal depression crap.

There is just a chance that this was in fact the root cause. It is a recognised medical or sychological ailment. The womans father visited which may indicate that she is seperated from the childs father. In this case depression can become worse and the inability to cope and lack of support pushed her over the edge. She wanted to end her own life also, was it guilt at what she had done or was it Suicidal depression?

This may be another sad situation where no one supported her, or recognsed her depression and illness and hence the horrid outcome.

I don't think it is an act of evil as it said she struggled since he was born, but then maybe she is ..we don't have enough evidence to say this.

Very sad and tragic, may the child RIP.

I was demonized in the other thread about children falling through the cracks for my very strong stance that the people there need to do more to protect the at risk children in your society. One even asked what do I suggest we do about it. I do not know if you already have this or if it would have made a difference.

In the U.S. there is a law in place where a mother such as the one in this article can take an infant child to any hospital, fire station, police station or even city hall and leave it there NO Questions Asked and with zero fear of any kind of punishment. It is well publicized and it has saved the lives of countless children. Before this became law we had an epidemic of children being abandoned and left to die in trash bins and other just as bad places, and sadly often the child was found too late to save it's life. But now this hardly ever happens thanks to this compassionate law.

Also I hope the mother gets properly evaluated and then the help she so badly needs. I fear that once her depression is cleared she will be her own worst punishment, living with the memory of what she did.

Ewan Huzarmy at Jul. 19, 2012 - 03:34PM JST

Struggling....for one month ! Pathetic excuse for a human being should be sterilized and locked up.

It is too bad she wasn't sterilized before she had the baby.

You read this stuff and your jaw just drops.

Sweet lord, here we go again. Been almost a week since the last mother-infanticide (or neglect leading to death) case.

Will she get locked up? probably not. Will posters come on here and blame the husband? some will. In any case, a poor little child who barely knew life, knew nothing about the weapon the person who is supposed to love and care for held over him before thrusting it into his chest, and ultimately knew only pain and then death, is gone. RIP, little one. Give this woman a minimum of 10 years. Since she says she could not deal with it for some time, make it premeditated and the sentence longer. These scumbags have no right to life, but feel they have the right to take it because they are 'inconvenienced'. Show her what inconvenience means, and put a picture of her baby on the prison cell door.

@disillusioned - You said not to give you that post-natal depression crap.There is just a chance that this was in fact the root cause. It is a recognised medical or sychological ailment.

Yeah, so what! Possibly she was suffering post-natal depression, but that is still no justification to stick a knife into the chest of your one month old baby. That goes beyond depression. It is psychotic and no doubt this woman had issues long before she got pregnant. I don't blame her totally. The lack of support for new mothers and for emotional and mental disorders in Japan should shoulder a lot of the blame too.

@Disillusioned

Yeah, so what!

Well, that would explain her actions, wouldn't it. That's what. And psychosis is simply the end product of untreated depression.

depressing news

Ms Alexander, suicide is not a Japan-exclusive problem.

And, don't give me that post-natal depression crap either. Just a selfish psycho!

And you are qualified how?

And here we go, as predicted -- the 'it couldn't have been her fault' crowd coming on to protect an absolute psychopath -- and correct me if I'm wrong, but even if thrusting a knife into your one month old baby's chest to hear his final screams is 'post-partem', is that not a psychological problem? Hence psycho!

Seriously, as with last week's psycho and infanticidal mom, I'm tired of people comin on here to automatically ask "Where was dad?" or, "Why aren't people blaming dad?" or "it wasn't her fault, she was depressed", and just about any other excuse you can make up for these scum bags who murder others. If it WERE the father, or boyfriend, or what have you, who did it you certainly wouldn't be hearing, "Well, shucks... maybe he was depressed or stressed out!". These women sould be treated the same way. At best, they should be locked up in mental asylums for years. Maybe that'll be less 'stressful'?

I think Japan needs to invest a tad more in social services programs; this happens more than many may imagine.

Millions of people are suffering depression at any given time. They don't go and kill others because of it. For some reason society sees it differently and explains it away as justifiable when otherwise unjustifiable acts are committed while apparently suffering "post natal" depression, with no real understanding or explanation as to why. If someone out there has a good explanation I'm all ears.

Please help government, please, this type of stuff should not happen

How can anyone do that to their own baby? And the baby's only 1-month old! So tragic... RIP little one...

Are there any psychologists in Japan ? Can people go to them for counselling ? or they just get anti antidepressive pills at a psychiatrist?

Chandra: "Are there any psychologists in Japan ? Can people go to them for counselling ? or they just get anti antidepressive pills at a psychiatrist?"

There's still a pretty big social stigma here associated with seeking mental help and getting meds; not saying they would have helped in this case, but just to answer your question. And even where the help exists and where it is perhaps less conspicious it is very few and far between. There needs to be more, not just for women who are depressed and thinking of murdering infants, but for kids contemplating suicide, or people who just need someone to talk to.

the woman’s father visited the apartment at about 8 p.m.

The woman's father was checking on her so she was not completely and utterly alone. Sick mentally yes, much more so then the person who shook the 5 month old baby girl and was arrested the other day, but denies it. RIP lil one

Damn...horrid and sad.

Too bad the mother didn't get away with killing herself. She "deserved" it. Now she will be alive and still messed up.

A really sad news, which breaks hearts, the baby chan, who came to this world just for 1 month went back with wounds in his chest, we do know what happened to the baby during one month, because he was already a burden for his so called mom and why does it happen, why a mother becomes so cruel and ruthless and why the so called civilized society have no shelter for babies. if we the human are unable to preserve the human race then it raises serious questions.

Baby chan: we are very sad for you, to whom should we convey our coldness for you??

I believe this was a forced double suicide. (無理心中 muri shinnju)

I believe you don't know what suicide means. I don't think it is possible for a 1 month baby boy to commit suicide.

We as a community need to care more for those around us! Rest in peace little one.

Baby chan: we are very sad for you, to whom should we convey our condolences for you ?

I don't agree that postpartum depression justifies this womans action but unless you have suffered it then you won't understand what a dark and scary place it really is. I have never been depressed in my life except for the first 4 months of my daughters life. The changes in the bodies chemistry and the hormone fluxuation can take some people on a doozy of a ride. The degrees of this depression differ from person to person. The proximate cause may very well have been depression but the actions are still her own. She should get psychological help as well as jail time for the crime she commited. Murder is still murder, but jail with no therapy will never eradicate this behavior/thinking and we will continue to read about it in the news. That said, most mothers will seek help if it's available and encouraged. What kind of outcome can you expect if there is nowhere to go? No one to help?

And no, I am not giving this woman an excuse for what she did, nor am I blaming the childs father. There is a real problem here, not just in Japan. But until people take the time to understand it then it will never change.

RIP small baby. :(

Are Japanese mothers educated about postpartum depression??

Funny, isn't it, how so many of these parents who kill their children and then "try" to commit suicide fail to actually die, and miraculously regain consciousness?

This is not a shinju. It's a murder of an innocent little baby.

I believe this was a forced double suicide. (無理心中 muri shinnju)

I believe you don't know what suicide means. I don't think it is possible for a 1 month baby boy to commit suicide.

This is not a shinju. It's a murder of an innocent little baby.

Just for your information, Shinju and Muri-shinju are different. Shinju means two (or more) people agree to commit suicide together. Muri-shinju means one (or more) family member (usually children/bed-ridden elderly) gets murdered by another family member who commits suicide right after the murder. Muri-shinju is categorized as murder by law.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%83%E4%B8%AD#cite_note-1

The problem is the whole idea of this wonderful good “mother” is pretty much a myth. There are alot of bad, really bad mothers. Saying that is more taboo than killing children, as women and men kill their children daily. Look at all the young violent criminals we have throughout our society. They weren’t reared by loving, caring mothers. The problem is anybody can have children. The problem is there is just no way to stop all these terrible women from having these kids they go on to neglect, abuse, abandon, murder…

ahhhh cue the blood-thirsty, revenge-rabble so prevalent on these pages. The women was clearly mentally unhinged - better to ask why this wasn't spotted by her doctors, nurses and midwives who should still be intimately involved with her post-natal. A sad story for sure - as for the horrified indignation... the less said the better.

nec123a Jul. 20, 2012 - 05:07AM JST.The women was clearly mentally unhinged - better to ask why this wasn't spotted by her doctors, nurses and midwives who should still be intimately involved with her post-natal.

Does she have any history of mental illness, even just depression, whether it was officially treated or not? Treatment of mental illness in Japan, when it is even recognized, usually consists of drugs. This tends to mask many problems rather than solve them. So you may end up with a depressed wife who is also addicted to psychotic drugs. Add to that a post partum depression after 9 months (without the drugs) and you can imagine the problems.

She acted against her strongest biological need to protect and perpetuate her genes. That act is clearly irrational - unless you accept "evil" as a possibility (but your writing is far too logical and lucid for that). I understand that mental disorders are not well dealt with in many countries, including Japan. Nevertheless, this is the heart of the issue isn't it - not horror of the action.

sfjp330

Be careful, anti-depressant medication is NOT addictive and NOT a "psychotic drug". Don't perpetuate dangerous myths.

Having said that I wouldn't be surprised if in Japan she wouldn't have been real anti-depressants. I knew a genuine lunatic once who was only treated with sleeping pils and advised to channel his energy into karate lessons. It didn't work, needless to say.

oikawa Jul. 20, 2012 - 07:00AM JST Be careful, anti-depressant medication is NOT addictive and NOT a "psychotic drug". Don't perpetuate dangerous myths.

There is a lot of misunderstanding over antidepressant addiction and whether antidepressants are really addictive or not. Many people have found it very difficult to get off any antidepressant. In actual fact they are not chemically addictive in the same way that cocaine or heroin is. By that I mean that they do not cause a user to desire to take them for a 'rush'. However, there is no doubt that many people find it extremely difficult to stop any antidepressant once they have started on them. Not surprisingly, the larger the dose the harder it gets. Doctors are reluctant to suggest, or not knowledgeable about, alternative therapies for depression, given the side effects and the known problems with getting off these drugs. Sadly this is not unusual. There have been many cases of people with what looks like antidepressant addiction. If they then stop taking the medication as prescribed, they can become severely disturbed.

I agree that post natal depression is just an excuse. This case is severe, but most cases of women who claim depression, there is a deeper problem at the root, and to blame it on having a baby, is the easiest way out. And Im fed up with the negative slant on having a baby being spread around. Id even say that women get addicted to the lie of saying theyre depressed more than to the depression or the medication, itself. How can someone stab a baby? Sick world we live in.

illsayit Jul. 20, 2012 - 08:27AM JST How can someone stab a baby? Sick world we live in.

Mothers who kill their children are not as rare as we’d like to think. Nearly all these women find themselves very isolated.The reasons mothers kill their children vary. Some are victims of domestic violence and see the murder/suicide as an escape. In some cases, they suffer from extreme mental illness.

Don't hospitals here give case workers the right to monitor mothers and newborns at least a grace period of three months?? Most likely the mother here might have refused support and opted to deal with it all on her own. It wouldn't surprise me Japanese mothers reject help on account of their privacy being invaded. nevertheless, She must pay for her actions. I'm sure the shame will forever haunt her. Sad...so sad. RIP little angel...!!!

better to ask why this wasn't spotted by her doctors, nurses and midwives who should still be intimately involved with her post-natal.

There is only one postnatal check-up for the mother once you leave the hospital, along with the baby's 1 month check and a visit by the local public health nurse before the baby is 4 months. It's quite likely that none of these things happened given the mother's mental state, but even so it wouldn't necessarily be that easy to spot.

Don't worry about the mother, think of the poor infant. The mother can try again, the baby didn't have a say so.

So sad! RIP little angel baby. Mother?? I do not even want to mention her!!

they suffer from extreme mental illness

Is that your definition of this situation? I call it muder.

I have a week old baby girl and I could never think about hurting her. I love every minute of taking care of her.

Japanese woman are weak minded are quick to burst out in rage. I go thru it with my wife she is Japanese there are time that she goes in rage with kids for no reasons the only reason saying she want her life back, I'm stay with her is cause of the kids my kids fear her when she goes into rage she does that all the time my seven year old daughter wants to go back to America with me and my two year old son without her mother but my wife doesn't want to let them go. And thats what I see is the matter with Japanese woman.

why I always read this in JT? seriously. I mean, in every society people would have some women who would face post natal depression after giving birth to a first, second even 5th babies. But only here I would read mothers who kill their own babies like very other day. If not this, I would be reading about some boys or girls who bullied someone in school or neighbourhood. what all these news pieces telling us? This is one of modern countries which am sure have the state of the art medical systems. Is there anything that the society or authority doing about all this?

Japan cant keep looking the other way here... more support for parents is needed, especially the deadly 20's age group. Affordable and no-waitinglist daycare (dont forget the ENFORCED BY LAW standards btw) is needed.