SHIZUOKA — Shizuoka Prefectural Police have arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of abandoning the corpse of his mother inside a wooden box in the garden of his home in Fukuroi City, reports TV Asahi (Apr. 13).
Toshihiko Oki, an unemployed resident of Fukuroi City, is accused of illegally disposing of the remains of his 92-year-old mother by keeping her body stuffed in a wooden box on his residential property up until April 11.
According to investigators, the elderly woman is believed to have passed away from old age around mid-February.
Following her death, Oki allegedly ignored repeated instructions from municipal authorities to submit a formal death certificate and make the necessary arrangements for her cremation.
At this time, the body remained in the house. Both the city and the police were aware of this situation.
“Even after explaining the burial procedures, they couldn’t get him to understand,” a representative of the city said.
During police questioning, the suspect partially denied allegations of abandoning a corpse.
“I did not cremate her for religious reasons,” Oki told police.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the exact circumstances surrounding the woman’s death and the living conditions at the residence prior to the incident.
