The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a couple and their son on suspicion of abusing their daughter and confining her in a locked closet at their home, in a case investigators believe involved prolonged abuse and neglect.
Police arrested the couple, who are in their 40s, along with their eldest son, who is in his 20s, on suspicion of causing injury through unlawful confinement, investigative sources said Tuesday.
The parents have partially denied the allegations, while the son reportedly told investigators, ¡°I don¡¯t want to say anything.¡±
Investigative sources said the daughter, who according to Nikkei is a junior high school student, was found suffering from hypothermia and bedsores on her back when she was rescued, and required about a week of treatment.
Authorities also found multiple bruises and signs of healed fractures on her body, which led investigators to suspect she had been subjected to prolonged abuse by her family.
The suspects are accused of confining the girl for several days in late January inside a locked closet at their Tokyo home after restraining her limbs with homemade metal devices.
Since around September last year, the family had allegedly modified the lower section of the closet by adding doors and locks to prevent it from being opened from the inside. The mother reportedly told investigators the confinement was ¡°for disciplinary purposes.¡±
The abuse came to light on Jan. 28 when the mother called emergency services saying, ¡°My daughter¡¯s body is cold.¡±
The girl was reportedly semiconscious when taken to the hospital and was found to have suffered from severe malnutrition, weighing about 10 kilograms below the average for her age. Investigators believe she had not been given adequate food.
Police first arrested the couple¡¯s second-eldest son, also in his 20s, the following day on suspicion of assault and unlawful confinement of the girl.
Investigators found footage showing the girl being abused, including of her being bound with adhesive tape, from cameras installed inside the home.
The girl had reportedly not attended school for several years. Just a few days before the case came to light, a child guidance center had received a report alleging possible abuse of the girl.
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