Hiroshima police arrested a woman and her father on assault charges Tuesday after they allegedly bound the woman's 3-year-old son and placed him in a cardboard box.
26-year-old Hitomi Kumagaya, who is unemployed, and her father, Kazuhiro Kumagaya, a 52-year-old part-time worker, both live in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward.
The arrest warrant alleges that in the early hours of Sep. 5 last year, the suspects conspired to wrap the child’s mouth, arms and legs with tape before placing him inside a cardboard box at their apartment.
According to Hiroshima Minami Police Station, the suspects took the unconscious child to a nearby doctor on Monday afternoon, prompting the physician to call emergency services. After being alerted by a child welfare center, police questioned the two, who admitted to using adhesive tape on the boy.
The boy is currently hospitalized in a coma. While he has no visible external injuries, police are investigating whether the pair subjected him to repeated abuse.
Hitomi Kumagaya lived with her father and her three children, including two preschool-age daughters who showed no apparent signs of mistreatment, according to police.
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