crime

Woman kills 1-year-old son; tries to kill herself

19 Comments

Police in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, said Friday that a 35-year-old woman tried to hang herself after strangling her one-year-old son to death at their apartment.

The woman's younger sister visited the apartment in Tama Ward just after 7 a.m. Thursday and found the bodies, TBS reported. Both mother and child were rushed to hospital where the boy died a short time later. The mother remains in a coma, police said.

A note was left next to the boy's body, saying "I'm sorry."

Police said the woman lived with her husband and son. Her husband had already left for work at the time of the incident, police said.

The mother's sister said she had been suffering from depression and anxiety recently, TBS reported.

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19 Comments
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Woman kills 1-year-old son; tries to kill herself

But does not succeed. Same as ever. Try doing things in the opposite order.

0 ( +9 / -9 )

Selfish woman, kill yourself not others

0 ( +11 / -11 )

"suffering from depression and anxiety recently" The baby is suffering from death forever, having being murdered by his mother... no sympathy for the mother from me.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

The anger should not be directed at the mother. The anger should be directed at the society and welfare support that let her down and pushed her to this. The lack of emotional and psychological support in this country is astonishing and it comes as no surprise to me that this kind of incident happens so often. I'm also gonna guess the husband was no help to her what-so-ever. It's not an article to be angry about. It's just really sad!

13 ( +23 / -10 )

Disillusioned

Hear hear.

But looking at the timbre of some of the posts above yours, Japan isn't the only country that has some work to do in adequately educating it's populaces about the reality of mental illnesses

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

@Disillusioned

So true.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

There are not enough details in this article however, I believe it may be very difficult, especially for men, to understand how this can happen. We don't know if perhaps she and her baby were being abused. I don't think it's a good idea to try to judge somebody when there are no details.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

@Disillusioned ..you are on point once again!

The lack of emotional and psychological support in this country is astonishing, and the lack of planned parenting facilities, and the scarcity of mental facilities, and the need for a prison industrial complex, and a national internal affairs system for their judicial system is astonishing too.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

@Disillusioned so? That's no excuse for her actions!

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

My sympathies to the mother! There's still hope though that you'll make it off from this crappy world.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Disillusioned: Agreed that society shoulders SOME of the blame, but the mother gets the lion share. Selfish woman. I've said it before and will say it again, it is incredibly sad that people reach the point where they feel there is only one way out, but if they are ultimately set on escaping depression and/or other problems, PLEASE don't take others with you!!! This poor baby! All it wanted to do was live, and the selfish mother snuffed out its life. I pray she goes to prison for a long, long time. Perhaps there she'll have a little time to think about what she's done.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

Postpartum depression is real, and lasts much longer than a just a few months after birth if untreated. Considering the lack of mental health care and spousal childcare support in Japan, I'm not surprised there are incidents like this. Poor child.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

but if they are ultimately set on escaping depression and/or other problems, PLEASE don't take others with you!!! This poor baby! All it wanted to do was live, and the selfish mother snuffed out its life. I pray she goes to prison for a long, long time.

You just aren't getting it, Smith. You aren't understanding that mental illness means that a persons capacity for reasonable, rational, logical thought processes dissolves as part of the condition. That's the 'illness' part of the definition. In a normal, balanced state, that woman would likely be horrified by the thought of doing what she did. But she is sick.

Sick, not selfish.

This is the root of the misinterpretation of extreme actions performed by those who suffer a mental illness.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

As many as 50 to 80 percent of all women experience a emotional letdown following child birth called baby blues and there is infanticide which is a phenomenon when a women can become psychotic and kill their babies. There are two things we can never know perfectly. Another person's mind and another person's heart. Because of these limitations, we should not judge. We do not have sufficient information to make an informed judgment. It is arrogant to assume that we can look at suicide and pass judgment in what has happened. We do not have the capacity to do so.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Excuses, excuses. People that support the mother here make me sick. She. Is. A. MURDERER. Of her child, no less. WTF?

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Thank you Tamarama and Novenachama! For all the people (most likely men) who have made all the stupid comments about how it's her selfishness...you have NO idea what you are talking about. Postpartum depression is very real and serious. It doesn't just happen in Japan, it happens everywhere and to normal people. I can see it happening to the people who push themselves too much and do not ask for the help they so desperately need. You have no idea what months of hardly any sleep, constant crying and no time for yourself (to even just calm yourself down) can do to someone's mental health. If you don't get the help you need, you end up damaging yourself and if you can't take care of yourself...there is no way you can take care of anyone else. I feel horrible for the baby and the mother. It's just very sad and unfortunate she could not receive the help she so desperately needed.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Lack of safety net or meaningful relationships lead to these kinds of selfish and nonsense crimes. At least offer it for adoption. People in poorer countries still try their best because despite the fact that they have nothing, their loved ones is better than riches. But here money rules.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Many misconceptions and a stigma is attached to mental disorder simply because of a lack of awareness and the education of mental health. Mental illnesses are not caused by the person neither is it their fault and is not a personal weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. The best research and knowledge indicates that all mental illnesses have three common factors. Biology, psychology and social. This includes drug imbalances in the brain genetics including personality factors, developmental factors, environmental factors, social factors and work relationships etc. Be grateful you don't have any mental disorders or personality problems.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I guess many issues to consider here. Medical Services. Lack of medical services and clinical support for mental illness and emotional issues. Social issues. Japanese have a propensity not to or to be reluctant in communicating or expressing an issue involving their psychological well being until it is too late. Add to that Social Isolation. Friends and family have very little contact with each other anyway, so that avenue of possible assistance is limited. Cultural issues. It seems to be accepted or tolerated in Japanese culture, at least to a degree, that it is alright to kill your own off spring. Relative to other cultures anyway. Genetics. This may sound controversial but I do believe there is a very small genetic pool of women in Japan that lack the genetic instinct to protect their own off spring. Just some thoughts. RIP innocent child.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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