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Kanagawa cops arrest man in alleged beating of mother who later died

A man told police he beat his 73-year-old mother, who was found dead Sunday, because he was “irritated” from providing nursing care for her (TV Asahi)
A man told police he beat his 73-year-old mother, who was found dead Sunday, because he was “irritated” from providing nursing care for her (TV Asahi)

KANAGAWA (TR) – A man told police he beat his 73-year-old mother, who was found dead Sunday, because he was “irritated” from providing nursing care for her, TV Asahi reported on Tuesday (Jan. 3).

Masatoshi Tajima, 47, is charged with causing bodily injury after repeatedly punching his mother, 73-year-old Fumiko, at the home they share in Yamato City sometime in mid-December.

Tajima has admitted to the charges, telling police he “punched her because I was irritated and exhausted from providing nursing care.”

“She never understood [my hardships] even after I provided nursing care for her, so I snapped and ended up punching her,” Tajima was quoted by the Mainichi Shimbun (Jan. 2) as telling police.

“My mother lived life as usual after I punched her, and there was no change in her condition until the 1st.”

Police said Tajima made an emergency call at around 10:25 p.m. on Sunday saying his “mother is dead.”

Responding ambulance crew found Fumiko lying on the floor in their living room. Her body was covered in several bruises suggesting she was beaten, police said.

Police are planning to conduct an official autopsy to identify the cause of death, and are weighing charges of bodily injury resulting in death.