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Nara police send deceased man to prosecutors over double suicide involving daughter

NARA (TR) – A little after 10 a.m. on July 22, 2024, a girl’s body was found near a concrete pier for Maeoni Bridge on National Route 169. The bridge spans the reservoir of Ikehara Dam in Shimokitayama Village. A man’s body was discovered floating on water.

The bodies were later confirmed as those of a 5-year-old girl and her 52-year-old father. On January 23, police deemed the case a double suicide and sent papers on the unnamed man to prosecutors on suspicion of murdering his daughter.

The development represents the end of a sad tale of a single parent living in desperation with nowhere to turn, reports Nippon News Network (Jan. 23).

The day before the discoveries, the father, who was raising girl by himself in a public housing unit in Naniwa Ward, Osaka City, called a child abuse hotline.

The father said that he was having trouble raising his child and that he was thinking about suicide or a double suicide. “I’m mentally exhausted, please take care of my child,” he said.

After that, a staff member called the father back and tried to give him advice, but he hung up the phone midway. “That’s enough,” he said.

After that, the staff member called him again and told him to come to a consultation center, but the father said, “I’m renting a car and traveling.” The phone was no longer reachable thereafter.

The bodies of a girl, 5, and her father, 52, were found at Ikehara Dam on July 22, 2024 (X)

His daughter in his arms

According to the police, the autopsy results showed that the cause of death of the girl was respiratory failure due to a broken neck. The father died of drowning after suffering multiple fractures all over his body.

The estimated time of death was midnight on July 22. A rental car was parked on the side of the road near the bridge. The girl’s clothes, insurance card and My Number card were found inside.

Subsequent investigations revealed that footage from the rental car’s dashboard camera showed that the father and his daughter had been alone.

The results of the autopsy also showed that the father had jumped off the bridge with his daughter in his arms. When police made the announcement on January 23, they added the father seemed to have tried to protect his daughter as they plunged together.

Parents’ home in Nara

Subsequent investigations revealed that after calling the child consultation center, the father took his daughter to his parents’ home in Nara Prefecture. At around 5 p.m., he asked if they could take care of his child.

He also hinted at suicide, but since he had often said in the past that he wanted to die, his elderly parents refused to take in his grandchild.

The daughter’s clothes and identification found in the rental car are thought to have been left there in preparation for passing them to his parents. After they refused, he is believed to have taken the fatal leap into the dam lake seven hours later.

When the police told the parents about the deaths of their son and granddaughter, they expressed regret, saying that they had not taken it seriously.

Child consultation center

The father is believed to have been unemployed and living in public housing while on welfare. He married a woman younger than him, and was 47 when his daughter was born. He divorced her shortly after. He took in his daughter and lived her.

According to the police, he had lost contact with his former wife. He also did not have regular contact with his elderly parents.

According to the child consultation center, the father had consulted with them about his daughter’s developmental status about a year and a half ago, but he had not been in contact since then.

In response to the deaths, the child consultation center commented, “We had been responding carefully as [the father] had spoken of suicide, but we were unable to continue counseling him. We take seriously the fact that the two died as a result.”