As one who signed the petition put it, two parents (or at least one custodial and often-visiting non-custodial) can over-see each other's behaviour and look for signs of abuse.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the family courts of Japan act like gatekeepers to the custodial parents of children in Japan. No cause for the safety of a child is ever followed up by the family courts. It doesn't happen because they don't want the problem of actually finding abuse and then having to go through the legal hoops of punishing the custodial parent while then trying to switch custody from one parent to the other - particularly if both parents live in different countries.
Of course, this is in the best interests of the child (sarcasm).
KURASHIKI, Okayama -- An unemployed woman was arrested Thursday for abusing her son who later died under suspicious circumstances, police said.
Miyuki Mitsunaka, 31, a resident of Kurashiki, is accused of assaulting her 4-year-old son, Kakeru. Local police are poised to conduct an autopsy on the victim's body in a bid to see if there is causal relationship between her abuse and his death.
In the specific case for which she was arrested, Mitsunaka hit Kakeru in the face on Dec. 17 after getting infuriated at him for eating food from a fridge. She then left him outside their home for at least one hour, investigators said.
Mitsunaka called a fire department Wednesday afternoon, reporting that her child had choked on food and asked for an ambulance. By the time paramedics arrived, his heart and lungs had stopped functioning even though he had no external injuries. He was drenched and red pepper powder was found in his mouth. (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070104p2a00m0na011000c.html |
