Mother Holds Critically Injured Infant at Station — Suspected of Drowning 4-Month-Old Son in Bath, Followed by Shocking Actions

When police officers apprehended her, the female suspect was holding her critically ill child, dressed in wet clothes—

The Saitama Prefectural Police Warabi Station arrested Hatsune Kotake (38), a part-time worker living in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture, on May 7 on suspicion of murder. She is suspected of killing her 4-month-old son, A-kun.

“The incident leading to the arrest occurred on April 21. That morning, when Kotake’s husband was about to leave for work, she strongly tried to stop him from going out. The husband calmed her down, but when he returned home from work around 1 p.m., he noticed something was wrong. A letter seeming like a farewell note was left behind, and both Kotake and their son A-kun were gone. The husband called 110, saying, ‘My wife and our infant child have left.’” (Reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department)

The police immediately began searching around Kotake’s home. They found her inside the nearby JR Toda Station. Police officers were reportedly shocked by her behavior.

“I struggled with postpartum depression.”

She was reportedly holding A-kun, who was limp and wearing wet clothes. A-kun was unconscious and was transported to the hospital, but about two hours later, his death was confirmed. There were no noticeable external injuries, and the cause of death is believed to be drowning.

The weakened Kotake was also hospitalized from April 21. Upon her discharge on May 7, the police arrested her. In her statement, Kotake reportedly said, “It is true that I submerged (A-kun) in the bathtub at home and killed him. Postpartum depression was very hard.”

On May 8, our magazine photographer captured Kotake being sent to prosecutors. She looked deeply sorrowful, bowing her head in the back seat of the police van.

Taihei Ogawa, a former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist, commented:

“The suspect must have been mentally extremely pressured. While she loved her child, she may have also felt distress in childcare and sensed the danger of hurting him. If she indeed killed her child, it is an unforgivable crime, but it is regrettable that some form of support could not be provided to her before her childcare struggles deepened.”

The police are also investigating Kotake’s family environment in detail.