Osaka prefectural police arrested a 33-year-old father on suspicion of murdering his 3-year-old daughter at the family's apartment in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, and arrested the girl's 33-year-old mother on suspicion of abandoning her to die, the Sankei Shimbun reported.
The father, Kentaro Kaneo, a company employee, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting and killing his daughter, Erena. Police arrested the mother, Riyo Kaneo, who is unemployed, on suspicion of failing to protect the girl. Police have not disclosed whether either suspect admits or denies the allegations.
An autopsy found that strong pressure to the girl's abdomen had ruptured her esophagus. Her lungs were punctured, leaving her unable to breathe, and she had also suffered an acute subdural hematoma from a blow to the head. Police confirmed several dozen bruises across her body and are investigating whether she was abused routinely.
The assault
According to police, the father is suspected of repeatedly striking his daughter's head and abdomen with intent to kill at an apartment in Hirakata's Shinmachi district, where the family lived at the time. The assaults took place between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on August 2, and the girl is believed to have died around 2 a.m. on August 3.
The father had put his daughter inside a plastic enclosure resembling a playpen, 70 centimeters tall, and had her climb up and down a three-step plastic stairway as "training," police said. He became angry when she stopped, and assaulted her.
The girl had no confirmed disability or marked developmental delay.
The mother's arrest
The mother is suspected of knowing about the assaults but neither stopping her husband nor reporting him to police or a child guidance center — the municipal bodies that handle child welfare cases. Police said she left the girl without the protection needed to survive.
On the morning of August 3, the father noticed his daughter was not breathing and called 119, Japan's emergency number. The hospital that received her reported to police that she was "covered in bruises all over her body."