Osaka prefectural police arrested a 33-year-old company employee on suspicion of murder on the 13th, accusing him of beating his 3-year-old daughter to death at the family's home in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, in August, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.
Police also arrested the girl's mother, also 33, on suspicion of abandonment resulting in death as a person responsible for the child's care.
The dead girl, Erena, had multiple bruises on her body. Police are investigating whether she was routinely abused.
What police allege
Investigative sources said the father beat Erena at the apartment in Shinmachi 1, Hirakata, where the family lived at the time, on August 2. She died on the morning of August 3.
The mother is accused of knowing her husband was assaulting the girl but neither stopping him nor calling for help, allowing Erena to die.
The father called 119 — Japan's emergency number — on the morning of August 3 and said his daughter was unconscious. Erena was taken to a hospital but died.
A judicial autopsy found she had suffered traumatic bilateral pneumothorax caused by a ruptured esophagus, as well as an acute subdural hematoma. Strong force is believed to have been used.
The household consisted of the three of them. The bruises on Erena's body appear to have been inflicted at different times. Police are carefully investigating how the assault came about.