This morning, a 35-year old Fukuoka mother admitted to having strangled her 6-year old son with his cell phone strap. The boy was found dead—wedged in between a column and wall of a park bathroom—four days ago. The mother claimed that the boy had disappeared while she was peeing—a search immediately followed, and neighbors found the unconscious body nearby and his cell phone tossed into a nearby bush. A reporter on the scene was on TV today, explaining why the mom was under suspicion throughout the short-lived investigation—for example, she was crying his name out desperately while neighbors looked for clues, but when they finally found the body, she refused to look at it. Also, the GPS-enabled cell phone, which she had urged investigators to track in order to find the boy, had no fingerprints on it. She must have wiped it clean before tossing it aside.
It's common for elementary school kids to carry around GPS-enabled cell phones so parents can keep track of there whereabouts. In Japan, kids start commuting to school on their own from as early as kingergarten.
Hey (medium-time reader, first-time commenter). Poor kid; just an ichinensei. I felt there was something ayashi about this story from the first time I saw it on the news. I have some friends who live in the Nishi-Ku area of Fukuoka and they said that the gossip somewhat confirmed it. His moms must have some serious issues.
Enjoy your time in Tokyo, eat some monjya!
Posted by: setagaya-optimist | September 24, 2008 at 01:32 AM