An Okayama Prefecture couple were arrested Monday on charges of leaving their 2-year-old daughter to die after she suffered serious burns in a hot shower last month.
The father, Kazutoshi Aki, 39, of Tamano, told police there was no intent to kill.
But they quoted his wife, Midori, 40, as saying: "I was filling the bathtub with water. Just when I went to the kitchen to turn off the gas stove, my daughter touched the shower lever and poured hot water on herself. I thought I wouldn't mind if she died, as she was an unwanted child."
Police charged the couple with murder, saying there was conscious neglect on their part.