SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have arrested a 53-year-old woman for allegedly concealing the corpse of her female roommate under in their residence in Saitama City, reports TV Asahi (April 29).
Between April 22 and Friday, Michiko Watanabe allegedly hid the corpse of her roommate, 68, under the floor of the kitchen in their apartment in Midori Ward.
Upon her arrest on suspicion of abandoning a corpse, Watanabe admitted to the allegations. “I hid the corpse,” she was quoted.
According to police, the suspect is the wife of the roommate’s eldest son. They had been living together for at least nine years. However, many persons also lived at the residence, police said.
At around 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the roommate’s eldest daughter, aged in her 40s, visited the residence. After not finding her in a bedroom, they found the body under the floor.
The body showed no signs of external wounds, police said.
The daughter then alerted police. “My mother is dead,” she said, according to the Saitama Shimbun.
Police are treating the case as the result of foul play or an accident. An autopsy will be used to determine the cause of death.
