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Japanese Teen Takes Mother's Severed Head To Police
A 17-year-old Japanese boy was arrested on suspicion of murder today after walking into a police station and telling officers he was carrying the severed head of his mother, whom he had murdered during the night.
The teenager, who has not been named for legal reasons, was holding the head in a bag. "It's in here," he said, adding that he had killed his mother with a knife as she slept on the eve of her 47th birthday.
He later accompanied police to his home in the town of Aizu Wakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, and led them to his mother's headless corpse lying on a futon.
The discovery is the latest in a series of gruesome crimes, several involving dismemberment, that have horrified Japan, regarded as one of the safest societies in the world.
Police are investigating the discovery yesterday of a severed leg found floating in a river in the capital.
Last month a businessman was acquitted of the killing in 2000 of British woman Lucie Blackman, whose dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave, her head encased in concrete.
Earlier this year a woman admitted cutting up her abusive husband with a saw and dumping the body parts in plastic bags at several locations in Tokyo after bludgeoning him to death with a wine bottle.
"There have been a high number of incidents involving dismembered bodies and I certainly think there is a chain reaction going on," Susumu Oda, a criminal psychology expert at Tezukayamagakuin University, told the Associated Press.
The latest incident drew comment from Japan's top government spokesman. "If it's true, then it's horrendous," Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters.
The boy, a high school pupil, had been absent from school and was receiving psychiatric treatment, the Kyodo news agency reported. He was quoted as telling investigators that he "didn't care" who he killed and spoke incoherently about wanting to see an end to war and terrorism.
He and his younger brother lived together away from the family home in another town in the region so that they could attend their chosen schools and their mother often visited at weekends do their washing, local reports said.
The teenager's admission brought to mind one the most notorious juvenile crimes in Japan of recent times. In 1997, a 14-year-old boy beheaded another boy three years his junior and left his severed head in front of a school gate in Kobe, western Japan.
Figures show the number of murders by juveniles has fallen in recent years, but the viciousness of several high-profile killings prompted calls for harsher punishments for those aged under 20.
Last month parliament voted to lower the age at which young offenders can be sent to reformatories from 14 to 12.
Japanese police arrested a 17-year-old boy on Tuesday on suspicion of murdering his mother after he turned up at a police station carrying a severed human head in a bag.
Police in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture, 200km north of Tokyo, said they arrested the teenager, a student at a local high school, after officers found a beheaded body in the apartment where he lived.
The boy told police he killed his mother on Monday evening while she was asleep, Kyodo news agency said.
"If it's true, then it is horrendous," the government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, told reporters.
The boy had not been attending school recently and was being treated by a psychiatrist, Kyodo said, adding that he had told investigators: "It would be good if terrorism and war were gone from this world. I didn't care who I killed."
Kyodo said Tuesday was the mother's birthday and she would have turned 47.
The boy was living with his younger brother in the apartment, away from their family home, so they could attend schools in the area, and the mother would often visit at weekends and wash their clothes, Kyodo said quoting neighbours.
In 1997, the nation was shocked when a 14-year-old schoolboy was arrested for the murder and beheading of an 11-year-old boy and leaving the boy's head next to a school gate in the western city of Kobe.
While government statistics show that overall juvenile crime and murder by minors - those under 20 - have declined in recent years, a number of sensational crimes has led to calls for harsher punishment of young offenders.
Following the Kobe murder, the age at which youths could be sent to reformatories was lowered to 14 from 16 in 2001, and a bill to further bring the age down to 12 was passed by the lower house of parliament last month.
In 2004, an 11-year-old schoolgirl killed a classmate by stabbing her in the neck with a cutter knife, and the year before a 12-year-old boy murdered a four-year-old by pushing him off the roof of a garage.
The teenager, who has not been named for legal reasons, was holding the head in a bag. "It's in here," he said, adding that he had killed his mother with a knife as she slept on the eve of her 47th birthday.
He later accompanied police to his home in the town of Aizu Wakamatsu in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, and led them to his mother's headless corpse lying on a futon.
The discovery is the latest in a series of gruesome crimes, several involving dismemberment, that have horrified Japan, regarded as one of the safest societies in the world.
Police are investigating the discovery yesterday of a severed leg found floating in a river in the capital.
Last month a businessman was acquitted of the killing in 2000 of British woman Lucie Blackman, whose dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave, her head encased in concrete.
Earlier this year a woman admitted cutting up her abusive husband with a saw and dumping the body parts in plastic bags at several locations in Tokyo after bludgeoning him to death with a wine bottle.
"There have been a high number of incidents involving dismembered bodies and I certainly think there is a chain reaction going on," Susumu Oda, a criminal psychology expert at Tezukayamagakuin University, told the Associated Press.
The latest incident drew comment from Japan's top government spokesman. "If it's true, then it's horrendous," Yasuhisa Shiozaki told reporters.
The boy, a high school pupil, had been absent from school and was receiving psychiatric treatment, the Kyodo news agency reported. He was quoted as telling investigators that he "didn't care" who he killed and spoke incoherently about wanting to see an end to war and terrorism.
He and his younger brother lived together away from the family home in another town in the region so that they could attend their chosen schools and their mother often visited at weekends do their washing, local reports said.
The teenager's admission brought to mind one the most notorious juvenile crimes in Japan of recent times. In 1997, a 14-year-old boy beheaded another boy three years his junior and left his severed head in front of a school gate in Kobe, western Japan.
Figures show the number of murders by juveniles has fallen in recent years, but the viciousness of several high-profile killings prompted calls for harsher punishments for those aged under 20.
Last month parliament voted to lower the age at which young offenders can be sent to reformatories from 14 to 12.
Japanese police arrested a 17-year-old boy on Tuesday on suspicion of murdering his mother after he turned up at a police station carrying a severed human head in a bag.
Police in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture, 200km north of Tokyo, said they arrested the teenager, a student at a local high school, after officers found a beheaded body in the apartment where he lived.
The boy told police he killed his mother on Monday evening while she was asleep, Kyodo news agency said.
"If it's true, then it is horrendous," the government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, told reporters.
The boy had not been attending school recently and was being treated by a psychiatrist, Kyodo said, adding that he had told investigators: "It would be good if terrorism and war were gone from this world. I didn't care who I killed."
Kyodo said Tuesday was the mother's birthday and she would have turned 47.
The boy was living with his younger brother in the apartment, away from their family home, so they could attend schools in the area, and the mother would often visit at weekends and wash their clothes, Kyodo said quoting neighbours.
In 1997, the nation was shocked when a 14-year-old schoolboy was arrested for the murder and beheading of an 11-year-old boy and leaving the boy's head next to a school gate in the western city of Kobe.
While government statistics show that overall juvenile crime and murder by minors - those under 20 - have declined in recent years, a number of sensational crimes has led to calls for harsher punishment of young offenders.
Following the Kobe murder, the age at which youths could be sent to reformatories was lowered to 14 from 16 in 2001, and a bill to further bring the age down to 12 was passed by the lower house of parliament last month.
In 2004, an 11-year-old schoolgirl killed a classmate by stabbing her in the neck with a cutter knife, and the year before a 12-year-old boy murdered a four-year-old by pushing him off the roof of a garage.
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