OKAYAMA (TR) – Okayama Prefectural Police have arrested a 35-year-old mother in connection with the death of her newborn girl who was found in a drainage canal in Okayama City, reports NHK (Oct. 21).
At around 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police working off a tip found the unclothed girl floating face-down in the canal in the Okudahonmachi area of Kita Ward.
The Okayama-Minami Police Station previously said that the girl was confirmed dead at a hospital about three hours later.
On Wednesday, police arrested the mother, a part-time employee at a convenience store, on suspicion of murder. “Shortly after giving birth, I tossed the girl in the canal at a park,” she told police.
“I didn’t tell my husband”
The suspect is married and has at least one other child. Due to privacy concerns for the suspect’s family, police did not reveal her name.
The location of the discovery is about 2 kilometers from JR Okayama Station. The infant measured about 50 centimeters in length, police said previously.
Since bloodstains were found at the park, police believe the suspect gave birth to the girl there at around 9:00 p.m. on the day of the discovery.
“I didn’t tell [my husband] directly about my pregnancy,” she also told police.
Police plan to use the results of an autopsy scheduled for Thursday to determine the cause of death.
