Daily angry shouts of “Gah! and cries of “Gah!”…27-year-old mother of alleged abuser, 2-year-old child dies “3 weeks after removal from care”. | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Daily angry shouts of “Gah! and cries of “Gah!”…27-year-old mother of alleged abuser, 2-year-old child dies “3 weeks after removal from care”.

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Arrested suspect Tashiro (Image: Kyodo News)

I called because he suddenly became very sick.

Upon noticing a change in her son’s condition, the mother called 119 herself. The child was immediately taken to the hospital, but died the next day. The hospital staff became suspicious of the body’s condition, including head injuries and multiple bruises, and contacted the police, suspecting abuse.

On February 21, Kanagawa Prefectural Police Investigation Section 1 arrested Mei Tashiro, 27, a Fujisawa City resident with an unknown occupation, on suspicion of manslaughter. The suspect assaulted and killed her then 2-year-old son, Sora, at her home in April of last year. The cause of Sora’s death was an intracranial injury caused by a blow to the head.

The suspect called 119, and Sora was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. However, the doctors who examined Kourai’s body at the hospital thought that ‘there was a possibility that the intracranial injury was caused by a force that was intentionally applied.

Upon receiving a report from the hospital, the police determined that there was a high probability of an incident. Based on the conditions at the scene, they believed that Tashiro had abused the child and decided to conduct a mandatory investigation. The suspect Tashiro denied the crime, saying, ‘I am not convinced.

Children are in the way.

Tashiro is suspected of abusing Sorai on a daily basis. (Image: Afro)

Tashiro gave birth to Sorai-kun in May 2007. She did not receive adequate medical checkups during her pregnancy and initially did not have a maternal and child health handbook. Hiratsuka City, where the suspect was living at the time, considers the possibility of neglect. Sorai-kun was temporarily taken into the care of the Child Guidance Center (Koso) when he was only a few days old.

The city and the Child Guidance Center kept an eye on Sorai-kun by repeatedly visiting mother and child at the facility, going out, and staying overnight. The suspect Tashiro wished to live with Sorai-kun. Since Sorai seemed lonely when he returned to the facility, it was concluded in March of last year that it would be appropriate to take him home, and the protective measures were lifted.

However, in April of the same year, when the Child Welfare Bureau staff visited the Tashiro suspect at his home, they found a bruise on Korai’s left cheek. Tashiro explained that he had “bumped him somewhere,” but the next day he canceled the visit, citing “poor health” and other reasons. Sorai-kun died about three weeks later.

According to a resident of the apartment where Tashiro lived, he frequently heard his mother yelling at him at the time. She would yell, ‘Gah! a voice that sounded like a child crying out. According to a Kyodo News report, Tashiro told the person he was dating that the child was ‘in the way. The police are investigating the case on the belief that abuse was taking place on a daily basis.

On February 21, the prefectural government and the child welfare ministry held a press conference to explain the situation as follows.

We believe we did everything we could, but we would like to conduct a third-party verification to see if that was sufficient.”

The prefectural government and the child minister will now be questioned as to whether there were any problems with their handling of the case.

The suspect Tashiro is suspected of having routinely abused Sorai-kun (Photo: Image) (Image: Afro)
  • Photo: Kyodo News Kyodo News Afro

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