A 34-year-old woman was indicted Friday in the slaying of two children from her daughter's kindergarten in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, investigators said.
Prosecutors charged Zheng Yongshan, a Chinese national, with murder and with violating the weapons control law after psychiatric exams found that she can be held criminally responsible for her actions.
Zheng is charged with fatally stabbing Wakana Taketomo and Jin Sano, both 5, with a kitchen knife on the morning of Feb. 17 while driving the children to the kindergarten they attended with Zheng's daughter, who was also in the car.
Zheng, who goes by the Japanese name Mie Taniguchi, told police she killed the two because her daughter was alienated from other children, but teachers at the kindergarten said Zheng's 5-year-old daughter was not bullied and got along well with her peers.