Man arrested for pouring boiling water over lover's baby

The Mainichi Shimbun
April 3, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080403p2a00m0na004000c.html

KOSHIGAYA, Saitama -- A man here who poured boiling water over his lover's 1-year-old daughter, causing serious scalding, claims he was just trying to give her a bath.

Manabu Shiraishi, 21, unemployed of Koshigaya, has been arrested for inflicting bodily injury and sent to the Koshigaya Branch of the Saitama District Public Prosecutors Office.

Shiraishi admits to scalding the little girl, whose injuries are not life-threatening, but denies intentionally harming her.

"I wanted to give her a bath and the water might have been a bit too hot," he told the police, who remain unconvinced as the girl had been scalded with boiling water while still clothed.

Police said that some time from 7 p.m. on March 21 to 4 a.m. the following morning he poured boiling water over the girl, scalding her back and abdomen.

The girl's mother, Shiraishi's lover, received an e-mail from the suspect at about 9:30 p.m. on March 21 saying that her daughter's skin had started to blister after he put her in the shower. The mother returned home and took her daughter to a nearby hospital. Medical workers suspected abuse and reported the incident to local childcare authorities, who reported the incident to the police.

(Mainichi Japan) April 3, 2008