Man held over attempted murder of 6-year-old

The Yomiuri Shimbun
February 18, 2008
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080218TDY02307.htm

OSAKA--A 21-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of the attempted murder of a 6-year-old girl who lives with him, her older brother and 29-year-old mother in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture.

According to the police, at about 1:05 p.m. Saturday, Hiroko Narikawa called for an ambulance, saying something was wrong with her daughter Mikoto. Paramedics found Mikoto unconscious in Narikawa's apartment. Takashi Oyama was arrested after bruises were discovered on Mikoto's body.

The girl remains unconscious, the police said.

Oyama has denied the allegation., telling police, "I shook Mikoto many times to discipline her, but I never hit her."

(Feb. 18, 2008)

Man arrested for attempting to kill girlfriend's 6-year-old daughter in Osaka

Japan Today
Monday, February 18, 2008 at 13:44 EST
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/428437

OSAKA — Police on Sunday arrested a man for allegedly attempting to murder his girlfriend's 6-year-old daughter in Osaka. The victim remains in a critical condition. The local city council is said to have known about the abuse but didn't report it to its child consultation center, police said.

Takashi Oyama, 21, who is unemployed, was arrested for allegedly trying to kill the daughter of his girlfriend Yuko, 29, by beating her at her apartment on Saturday morning. According to police investigations, the suspect called Narikawa who was working at an office, telling her he had assaulted the girl. She came home and called an ambulance after finding her daughter unconscious. Oyama was quoted by police as saying, "I hit her to discipline her."

Police say the girl and her 9-year-old brother had been abused since last November. The nursery school, which has confirmed bruises on the girl's body several times, reported the case to the city council and gave Oyama and Narikawa child-care advice, including a request to the mother to report the case.

But the city council decided that it wasn't necessary to report the case to its child consultation center which monitors child abuse cases.