The mother and relatives of a six-year-old boy have been charged with his murder in Japan on Sunday, reported local media citing investigative sources.
Nao Hosaka was allegedly beaten to death and his body stuffed in a suitcase and dumped in a grassland near his home. His body was discovered in June.
The suspects include Nao’s mother, Saki Hosaka, 34, her brother Daichi, 32, and her 30-year-old twin sisters Tomomi and Asaka.
The family of six, including Nao and his grandmother, 57, lived together in an apartment. The grandmother is not named.
Before Saki’s arrest, she guided investigators to the grassy spot about 800m from the apartment. Nao’s body was found in the suitcase, said The Japan Times, citing sources.
Saki told the police that the four siblings including herself carried the body in the suitcase from their home, according to the same report.
Four people, presumed to be the four suspects, were seen walking with a suitcase near the boy’s home at around 5pm on June 19, according to security camera video footage obtained by The Asahi Shimbun.
The Hyogo prefectural police suspect that Nao was beaten to death with a metal pipe on June 19, said The Asahi Shimbun.
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Nao’s body had bruises, mainly on his back and the police suspect that Nao was abused every day when he was alive, said The Japan Times.
The staff of the nursery school where Nao was attending noticed bruises on his shoulders and buttocks in April.
In May, an unnamed neighbour in his 20s also saw Nao crying on the balcony of the apartment and asking for help.
The cause of death was likely traumatic shock, said The Asahi Shimbun, citing sources close to the investigation.
Due to the severity of the beating, the police are weighing additional charges, including the abandonment of a body and failure to take Nao to a hospital to have his injuries treated.
The police concluded that the suspects had either an intent to kill or an “unintentional intent” to let Nao die, and merits the charge of murder, said The Asahi Shimbun, citing sources.
The police seized several stick-shaped objects, including a metal pipe, from the apartment.
The four suspects were initially arrested on June 22 on suspicion of injuring and confining the grandmother between March and June in the closet of their apartment.
The police believe the grandmother was hit on her back with a metal pipe. She was taken into protective custody on June 20 after she fled the apartment when no one was at home.
On July 13, the suspects were re-arrested on suspicion of abandoning Nao’s body in a suitcase and dumping the body.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
