FUKUSHIMA — Police on Friday arrested a couple for letting their 2-month-old baby girl starve to death in Kitakata city, Fukushima. Shunsuke Meguro, 24, and his wife, 19, who cannot be named by police because she is still a minor, were charged in the death of their baby daughter who had not been fed since October, police said.

After noticing that she wasn't breathing, the couple took her to a hospital on Thursday morning. The baby died of malnutrition later in the day. The hospital reported the case to police.

According to police investigations, the parents live together with the wife's father, 53, and her 22-year-old brother. But they are all employed. Meguro quit his job as truck driver in August.

While Kitakata city offers free medical care for babies, the baby's mother was quoted by police as saying that she was unaware of such services. "I couldn't take her to a hospital because it would cost too much," she was quoted by police as saying.

The parents have another 1-year-old daughter, who has been taken into custody by a local child consultation office.

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