Nara: Man killed disabled 10-year-old daughter ‘to escape this life’

tokyoreporter.com -- Feb 16

Nara Prefectural Police have arrested a 36-year-old man who is suspected of killing his 10-year-old disabled daughter at a dam in the village of Kawakami after abducting her, reports Fuji News Network

Early on Saturday, police found Kazuhiko Tokutani, a cook, soaked with water inside his vehicle, which was parked in a parking lot.

Later that same morning, police found his daughter Nanako, a fourth-year elementary school student, floating on the surface of the lake at the dam. She was later confirmed dead.

Upon his arrest on suspicion of abduction, Tokutani admitted to the allegations.

“After I got into a fight with my father, I considered death,” Tokutani told the Yoshino Police Station. “Also, my daughter’s disability is a burden to my wife. In order to escape to this life, I wanted to die together with my daughter.”

Tokutani, a resident of Uda City, is a cook at his father’s restaurant. In addition to a mental disability, Nanako had a problem with one of her legs, police said.

At around 2:50 p.m. on Friday, the suspect allegedly abducted Nanako from her special needs school. “I’m going to take her to see her grandmother,” Tokutani told a teacher.

That night, Tokutani’s wife lodged a report with a koban police box. Representatives of the school also began a search for the suspect.

Tokutani said that he had also planned to take his life. “I embraced [my daughter] and entered the water,” he said. “But when she started to struggle in the water, it was only me who emerged [from the lake].”

“There was nothing unusual”

The Nara Prefectural Board of Education said that there were no signs of trouble before the incident.

“There is no problem with a father who lives with [a student] coming to pick them up,” said superintendent of education Ikuhiro Yoshida. “As for suspect Tokutani and his daughter, there was nothing unusual [about them beforehand], and the homeroom teacher did not observe [anything out of the ordinary].”

Police are continuing the investigation on suspicion of murder.

Feb 16 (ANNnewsCH) - 逮捕された父親は「この生活から逃れるため長女と一緒に死のうと思った」と話しています。  徳谷和彦容疑者(36)は12日、長女の奈那子さん(10)を学校に迎えに行き、殺害する目的で車に乗せて誘拐した疑いが持たれています。  奈那子さんは13日、奈良県川上村のダム湖で浮いているのが見つかり、死亡が確認されました。  その後の取材で、徳谷容疑者が「父親と口げんかになり、この生活から逃れるため、長女と一緒に死のうと思った」と供述していることが分かりました。  「長女には障害があり、妻の負担になっていた」とも話していて、警察は徳谷容疑者が無理心中を図ったとみて、殺人容疑も視野に入れて捜査を進めています。