A 50-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a 5-year-old girl in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and demanding a ransom of 8 million yen.
The girl was rescued unharmed Wednesday.
Tadashi Yamazaki, a self-employed man from Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, was arrested the same day on suspicion of abducting Saya Imaoka from a kindergarten affiliated with Tokai University, in Isehara, and calling her family to demand the ransom.
Police said Yamazaki, posing as a relative, phoned the kindergarten around 10:30 a.m. and said that one of the girl's relatives had died. He then went to the kindergarten and picked her up.
He later made five calls to a clinic run by the girl's grandfather, demanding that the 8 million yen ransom be dropped off at a park in Atsugi in the prefecture. Police found Yamazaki and the girl in the park at around 4 p.m.
Yamazaki reportedly told police he kidnapped the girl because he was in need of money to repay debts of 5 million yen to a consumer credit company.
Police believe Yamazaki acted alone.
Baby-beating pair held
TOTTORI (Kyodo) A husband and his wife were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of beating their infant daughter and leaving her in critical condition, local police said.
Takuya Sakamoto, 21, a company employee, and his wife, Risa, 23, residents of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, face charges of assault and battery.
According to police, the couple repeatedly beat their 4-month-old daughter, Kaede, about the head and face from Saturday to Tuesday because she refused to drink milk and cried late at night. Risa Sakamoto called an ambulance after the child lost consciousness. Police believe the couple had beaten the child frequently since early January.