HOKKAIDO (TR) – A court here has handed a woman a suspended prison term over the burial of the body of her daughter at her residence in Asahikawa City two years ago, reports the Sankei Shimbun (April 12).
At the Asahikawa District Court on Monday, the presiding judge handed Marino Kyoda a 30-month prison term, suspended for four years.
The prosecution had sought a 3-year prison term.
According to the ruling, Kyoda and her husband, 39-year-old Ryo, worked together to bury the body of their daughter, Reo, around July 2019.
They also used the girl’s name in applying for a relief payment of 100,000 yen due to the coronavirus at the city office last year.
During the trial, Kyoda said that she buried the girl’s body out of fear that it would be learned she was late in calling an ambulance for her.
Buried in garden
The couple has three other children. Hokkaido police arrested the couple on suspicion of abandoning a corpse last July after the body of Reo was found in a garden.
“It was a selfish crime that undermines the dignity of the dead,” the judge said, while adding, “but you are showing remorse.”
Ryo is still on trial in the case. The cause of death of the girl was not revealed.
