A 33-year-old woman has been sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years, for leaving the body of her newborn daughter in a coin locker in Osaka in January.
According to the court ruling on Friday, Narumi Taniguchi, of no fixed address, who worked in the sex industry, gave birth to the infant on a street at around midnight on June 30, Kyodo News reported. The remains of the infant were found inside a tote bag in the locker at a storage facility near Juso Station in Nishiyodogawa Ward in March.
The facility has lockers which can be used for long periods of time. An employee of the facility operator found the remains after checking the lockers.
Taniguchi’s lawyer said she had no money for living expenses and that she was distressed at the idea of raising a child without a stable home life.
© Japan Today
16 Comments
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memoryfix
She left the “body”. It doesn’t say how the child died.
Gobshite
No murder charge then. Get a longer sentence for stealing a bicycle.
gogogo
Japan needs to remove pity from murder trials. It just encourages other mothers to kill their child's because it's an inconvenience.
Harry_Gatto
I would have thought it crucial to know whether the baby was stillborn or died after birth. Surely this would have been mentioned and considered at her trial so why is it not being reported?
Sal Affist
I had hoped she would be behind bars long enough until she was no longer physically able to breed and do this again.
smithinjapan
Cost of an infant's life? ¥300 - ¥400.
Well done, Japan. Well done.
nosuke
Japanese like to give the impression they are rich and or have no financial issues but in reality it is the shaming that puts many in denial. greying population
Disillusioned
Isn't this murder?
CaptDingleheimer
This keeps happening. I really hope the government puts on an information campaign to educate people about the no-questions-asked baby hatches at hospitals where a newborn can be left safely.
The adoption rate in Japan is pretty low and lots of orphans end up institutionalized until they reach legal adulthood. Perhaps these young women are concerned that the child would have a terrible childhood and a poor lot in life. In the US, there are so many families looking to adopt that some may not find a child. I hope US adoption agencies are aware of Japan’s adoption situation and working inside that country, as Japan does allow international adoptions.
falseflagsteve
2 years and she was a sex worker, defies belief. I can only assume there’s info that we are not being told in the article,
Harry_Gatto
Was the baby born alive and subsequently killed by its mother?
Was she charged with murder?
Scammedby Cityofnagasaki
Whoever are controlling the women committing these horrific acts certainly know about these pregnancies and should also be held accountable.
The government/society here has been doing a lot of good initiatives to stop violence against children and for unwanted babies to be adopted, such as with the hospital baby hatches noted in a comment above. But, it’s clear something needs to be done about this miserable repeating pattern in the industry reported above.
John
It looks like the court has just approved child murder as not as a serious crime as if someone caught speeding, or killed neighbours pet,
starpunk
Just a suspended sentence. This will just others a green light to do the same. A shame.
opheliajadefeldt
There is a previous comment here about getting babies adopted into the USA. The adoption system in that country is riddled with corruption, as a US person who is in that industry in the the US says “Anytime you put dollar signs and human beings in the same sentence, you have a recipe for disaster.”.
sir_bentley28
So.....she caused the death of a newborn helpless infant because of her poor life choices and she got a suspended sentence? That makes as much sense as waterproof flip flop sandals!