A gangster and his wife have been arrested in Hasama, Miyagi Prefecture, on suspicion of abusing their 5-year-old daughter, who has been missing for 30 months, police said Friday.
Yukio Suzuki, 44, a local yakuza leader, and his 28-year-old Filipino wife were arrested for failing to protect their daughter, Samia, by refusing to feed her around 1999.
The parents allegedly told police they did not feed her because she was ill-behaved.
Samia stopped attending nursery school in October 1999 but was seen in a photo taken in April 2000, police said.
The wife reportedly told police that her husband took the girl somewhere after she became weak and then told her that he had put her up for adoption.
Suzuki denied the allegations, they said.
According to police, the nursery school and the local government discovered that the girl had disappeared when they visited the parents because they had failed to take the child for a regular health checkup provided by the town.
Police said they decided to arrest the couple after the nursery school told them that the girl had become weak and exhibited bruises.
The wife, whose name was not provided, is Suzuki's second spouse. Five other children live with the couple.