Hirakata, Osaka Pref., Nov. 14 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police have arrested a man, 33, on suspicion of abusing and killing her 3-year-old-daughter. Arrested by the police department of Osaka Prefecture on Friday was corporate worker Kentaro Kanao, a resident of the city of Hirakata in the western Japan prefecture and father of the girl, Erena. The police also arrested the mother of Erena, Riyo, 33, who lives in the city of Nisshin in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on suspicion of failing to respond appropriately as a guardian of the girl, such as reporting the father’s behavior to authorities, and leading her to die. The Osaka police have not revealed whether the parents admitted to the allegations against them. With dozens of bruises found on Erena’s body, the police will investigate the case, suspecting that Kanao regularly used violence against the daughter, according to investigators. Kanao was arrested on suspicion of murdering Erena in the small hours of Aug. 3 by using violence against her, such as beating her in the head, back and stomach several times, at his then home in Hirakata on the night of the previous day. Riyo was suspected of leading Erena to die by failing to stop Kanao from using violence against the daughter and report his behavior to police or a child consultation center. At the time of the incident, Kanao had Erena walk up and down a step stool, telling her that it was a walking exercise. It is believed that as Erena stopped, Kanao got angry and assaulted her. On the morning of Aug. 3, Kanao called an ambulance after finding that Erena was not breathing. An autopsy found that Erena had suffered an acute subdural hematoma and brain contusion. Her esophagus had ruptured, and this caused traumatic bilateral pneumothorax leading to breathing difficulties and resulted in her death, according to the postmortem examination. The parents initially told investigators that Erena fell by herself. Based on the state of the injuries on Erena, however, the Osaka police department investigated the possibility that the girl died from abuse. Sources close to the investigations told Jiji Press that Kanao had said during voluntary questioning by the Osaka police that he hit Erena on the back as part of upbringing in the past. The Hirakata city government received about five reports in about a year until July this year that Erena might have been abused. The city found two bruises on Erena’s face when it was informed on July 21 of suspected abuse, but Kanao denied using violence against her at the time. Despite being informed by the city about the possible abuse, a local child consultation center did not take measures such as taking Erena into protective custody, judging that it would be appropriate for the city government to give guidance to the parents. Hirakata Mayor Takashi Fushimi said: “We very seriously take the fact that such a thing happened to the girl although the city was responding to the situation based on reports (of possible abuse). We will do our best to prevent a recurrence.” Although cooperation among related organizations over child abuse has made progress, many children have died from abuse, making it urgently necessary to take further measures. According to an expert committee under the Children and Families Agency, 50 children died from physical abuse or neglect in Japan in fiscal 2024. The annual number has almost leveled off in recent years. Of the 50 victims, nearly 70 pct were children aged under 1 while seven were aged 1 to 5. Biological parents were the main abusers for 29 of the total victims. In April 2021, the Osaka prefectural government launched a system in which information on all child abuse cases recognized by child consultation centers across the prefecture is shared with the prefectural police once a month to prevent serious cases from being unnoticed. Since then, information on more than 10,000 cases has been shared every year. However, the Osaka police learned about the case of Erena only after she was sent to hospital following the abuse. “It was regrettable that we didn’t have an opportunity to rescue her,” a senior official of the police department said. In the prefecture, child abuse information is planned to be shared in real time from fiscal 2027, which starts next April. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
