AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police on Saturday arrested a 24-year-old woman after the discovery of the corpse of a newborn outside a residence in Toyokawa City where she once lived, reports the Chunichi Shimbun (May 18).
At 12:20 p.m., the 69-year-old male landlord of the unit, located in the Mori area, visited a police box and explained that an offensive odor was emanating from a cardboard box that had been placed outside. “Come take a look with me,” the man told an officer.
Police later found the corpse of the infant inside the box — measuring 40 centimeters in length — which had been under the eaves of the unit.
Later that same day, police arrested Mari Nagaya, a part-time employee at a security firm living in Nakagawa Ward in Nagoya, for leaving the corpse of the newborn outside the residence shortly after giving birth last October. During questioning, the suspect admitted to the charge of abandoning a corpse.
According to police, Nagaya lived in the residence between last February and November. It is currently unoccupied. The landlord first found the box in April while tidying up the unit.
Police will use the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death.