The mother and relatives of a 6-year-old boy in Japan have been charged with his murder on Sunday (23 July).
They had allegedly beaten the boy to death and disposed of his body in a suitcase before dumping it at a grassland near his home.
According to The Asahi Shinbun, the boy’s body was discovered last month.
On Sunday (23 July), Japanese authorities charged Saki Hosaka — a 34-year-old mother from Kobe — with the murder of her 6-year-old son, Nao Hosaka.
The court also indicted Saki’s brother, 32-year-old Daichi, and 30-year-old twin sisters Tomomi and Asaka for the case.
The mother, uncle, and aunts of Nao had allegedly beaten the 6-year-old to death. They then stuffed his body in a suitcase and disposed of it at a grassland near his home.
Nao’s body was discovered back in June with bruises all over, most of them on his back.
The Asahi Shinbun reported that the boy’s death was likely due to traumatic shock.
Local police said they suspect the perpetrators had beaten Nao to death with a metal pipe on 19 June.
At the same time, they are considering additional charges against the suspects. These include abandoning the body and failing to take the boy to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Officials noted that the suspects intended to kill the boy, or at least had an “unintentional intent” to let him die. However, the suspects claimed that other relatives had inflicted the injuries on the boy.
Nao, his mother, and his relatives lived in an apartment with his 57-year-old grandmother.
Per a separate report by The Japan Times, the suspects had also confined the grandmother in a closet for roughly three months.
Found on the streets with bruises, the 57-year-old said she had escaped from the home.
Authorities first apprehended Saki, Daichi, Tomomi, and Asaka on 22 June for what they reportedly did to the grandmother.
As police investigations into the grandmother’s case were ongoing, Saki brought officers to a grassland near their apartment.
There, they found Nao dead in the suitcase, his body littered with bruises.
Security footage reportedly showed the four suspects walking around with a suitcase near their home at roughly 5pm on 19 June.
The Japan Times also wrote that staff members of the daycare Nao attended found multiple bruises on his shoulder and buttocks back in April.
Even though municipal officials conducted welfare visits to the boy’s home, they saw no need to take action as his bruises had disappeared.
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Featured image adapted from The Asahi Shinbun and The Japan Times.
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