SAITAMA (TR) – Following the arrest of a woman and her partner in the abandonment death of her 3-year-old daughter, Saitama Prefectural Police on Friday announced plans to apply fresh charges to the couple, reports Nippon News Network (Jan. 29).
On January 9, Ayaka Fujimoto, 22, telephoned emergency services from her apartment in Sayama City to report that the body of daughter, Hazuki Fujimoto, had gone cold. Emergency personnel arriving at the residence confirmed the child to be dead at the scene.
The results of an autopsy did not reveal a cause of death but police have determined that the child was repeatedly abused by the couple.
Starting in December, the child had suffered burns over its entire body, including the eyes and nose, from an unspecified cause yet she did not receive medical treatment.
Two days later, Fujimoto and her common-law husband, Yuki Okawara, 24, were arrested on charges of abandonment by a guardian.
During the investigation of the case, police discovered that the couple began abusing the child in the summer of last year. In June and July, neighbors registered complaints with police after the child was found wrapped inside a futon placed outside.
In examining the mobile phones of the suspects, police observed that the couple had been discussing their ill-treatment of the child via the smartphone application Line, according to the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 14).
In September and November, the child’s arms were bound with a necktie. The couple is expected to be re-arrested on Friday on charges of assault.
