An 81-year-old man has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of murder after he allegedly killed his wife. Hiroshi Fujiwara reportedly pushed his disabled wife into the sea because he was “tired of taking care of her,” per The Independent. His son is the person who alerted police to the crime.
- Fujiwara allegedly admitted what he did and pled guilty. According to police in Oiso, Kanagawa prefecture, the man said that he’d been looking after his wife for 40 years and could no longer do it. He told police that on November 3, he drove 79-year-old Teruko, who was wheelchair-bound, to a pier and pushed her into the water below.
- He told his son what he did. The Japan Times reports that the oldest son called authorities, saying, “My dad says he pushed mom into the sea.” The next day, Fujiwara was arrested and taken into custody.
- The wife’s body was found floating in the water on the night of November 3. One person called the police around 7 p.m. Teruko was taken to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
- The crime is shedding light on elder abuse. Many in Japan have accused the government of failing to do more to protect the elderly. While Japan has a population of just over 125 million people, a quarter of those are over the age of 65. There’s clearly more that needs to be done.
