A 33-year-old man arrested over the death of his 3-year-old daughter in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, has told investigators he beat her because she stopped the stair-climbing training he had set her, ABC News reported.
Kentaro Kanao is suspected of beating Erena, then 3, around the head and stomach and killing her in August. His wife, Riyo, 33, was also arrested on suspicion of abandoning a person under her care, causing death. Police have not disclosed whether either suspect admits or denies the allegations.
Kanao had Erena walk up and down stairs as "training" for walking, according to investigative sources. He has given an account to the effect that he got angry and hit her because she quit the training partway through, the sources said.
Five notifications before her death
More than a year before Erena died, her nursery school and other bodies notified the city of Hirakata five times that she had bruises, ABC News reported. The city did not share that information with police.
Mayor Hiroshi Nakatsuka held a press conference on the case and said there had been about five notifications from three organizations.