Police in Japan have arrested a 31-year-old father after his two-year-old son died in a horrifying incident inside a household washing machine — a case that has shocked the nation.
Authorities say Yuki Yamaguchi, a temporary worker from Ibaraki Prefecture, was taken into custody for allegedly abandoning his parental duty after his toddler became trapped headfirst inside a washing machine at the family’s apartment last April.
According to police, the child died from suffocation. Investigators allege Yamaguchi left the boy inside the machine for an extended period without intervening. Japanese outlet The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the father later admitted to authorities that he “left him there without helping him.”
Police believe the toddler was trapped for nearly 20 minutes, between approximately 10:00 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. on April 27. Emergency services were not contacted until around 10:29 a.m., when Yamaguchi reportedly called to say his son was no longer breathing.
The child’s mother was at work at the time of the incident.
Investigators said the washing machine was located inside the child’s bedroom and was not running when the tragedy occurred. Media reports suggest the toddler may have climbed onto the roughly 90-centimeter-tall machine using nearby footholds, then fell inside and was unable to escape.
Yamaguchi was formally arrested on January 14 on suspicion of abandoning his responsibility to protect his child. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities continue to examine the circumstances leading up to the boy’s death.
The case has also revived painful memories of a similar incident in 2018, when a five-year-old boy in Osaka was found unconscious inside a washer-dryer at his home. Despite being rushed to the hospital in cardiac and respiratory arrest, the child later died.
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When you have a toddler you cannot not see them for even a minute .They must always be in your sight