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A skeletonized body was discovered in a closet at a municipal apartment in Niigata City’s Higashi Ward, local authorities reported.
At around noon on Monday, emergency services visited the apartment of a man in his 40s who had called to ask for medical help due to ill health. Since the man required hospitalization, the staff inquired of the whereabouts of his father, who was registered as a resident in the same apartment.
The man told the staff that his father had passed away in the apartment several years ago, but not knowing what to do, he had kept him in the closet.
Medical staff contacted police, who found a skeletonized body wrapped in a blanket in the closet.
Police are currently investigating the remains and are questioning the man on suspicion of abandoning a body.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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Alex Einz
40s? mentally disabled?
metaterapin
Must've smelled something awful for a good while..Was that a hermetic closet or something?
nandakandamanda
Abandoning a body?
More like collecting a retirement pension under false pretenses.
Monozuki
He may have wanted to keep it a secret or literally the skeleton in the closet forever.
Mocheake
How do you not know what to do when someone dies?
Toasted Heretic
Maybe when you're ill yourself or perhaps in shock. Mental illness and/or trauma can have long lasting effects.
If this is the case, natch. As usual, it's an ongoing investigation & all the facts are not at hand.
William Bjornson, Aloha, Oregon
Abandoning a body? How much more opposite than 'abandonment' can keeping it in your closet be? Maybe if the law is really strange, he might be charged with 'hoarding' a body but 'abandonment' is not appropriate here. And it sounds like this man has enough problems already without the police abusing him as well.
fuzzylogic
"Abandoning a body? How much more opposite than 'abandonment' can keeping it in your closet be?"
"Maybe if the law is really strange"
Indeed...!
sir_bentley28
abandon **verb [ T ] UK /əˈbæn.dən/ US** /əˈbæn.dən/
abandon verb [ T ] (LEAVE)
to leave a place, thing, or person, usually for ever
The meaning of "abandonment" in this situation is the absolute opposite! He kept the body in his closet and lived with it. For a long time. This law should be updated.
Strangerland
You're getting too hung up on the English. This is Japan, and the law is in Japanese. The translation is 'abandon', which isn't the most accurate in English, but regardless, that's the translation.
It more means abandonment of responsibility in regards to a body, rather than abandonment of the body itself.
Disillusioned
And, for receiving his pension, no doubt. This is definitely a Japan thing. There seem to be bodies stashed in homes everywhere in Japan.
Aly Rustom
Adds new meaning to the term having a skeleton in your closet.
Michael Jackson
Lazy slug how can you treat your father like that.