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Osaka cops: Woman inflicted serious head injury to infant

Noriko Tanaka
Noriko Tanaka

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a 23-year-old woman for causing a serious head injury to her infant son, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 25).

Between August 23 and 25 of last year, Noriko Tanaka, a restaurant employee, allegedly inflicted abuse upon her five-month-old son such that he suffered a subdural hemorrhage. The boy will require seven months of treatment to fully recover.

Tanaka, who has been charged with inflicting injury, denies the charges.

On the evening of August 25, the suspect telephoned emergency services from her residence in Osakayama City to report that her son was experiencing convulsions. Medical personnel arriving at the scene transported the boy to a nearby hospital where the subdural hemorrage was found.

Police believe that the suspect violently shook or threw her son in causing the injury.

Prior to Tanaka’s arrest, she was interviewed by the Sankei. “After I returned home from nursery school with him by car (on August 25), he suddenly began to convulse,” the suspect is quoted. “I absolutely did not inflict violence. I don’t understand the claim of abuse.”

The boy left the hospital in September, according to the Mainichi Shimbun (Jan. 26). He is now in a special care facility.

Tanaka shares the residence with the boy, his father, and a daughter. She became a person of interest for the police after speaking with the father. The daughter did not suffer any injuries in the incident.