Police arrested a 35-year-old mother Wednesday for allegedly attempting to kill her 22-month-old daughter by mixing a contaminated sports drink in intravenous fluids for the girl at Kyoto University Hospital.
The unemployed woman, whose name is being withheld, injected the spoiled drink by syringe into an intravenous tube Monday and Tuesday while her daughter was in the intensive-care unit, police said.
The woman has admitted injecting the liquid, but has denied she was trying to kill her daughter, police said. A syringe was found on the woman when she was arrested.
The daughter could have died of blood poisoning but is now recovering after being treated at the hospital, police said.
The mother told investigators she injected the liquid because she was trying to make her daughter sick so she could take care of her, police said.
The daughter is the mother's fifth child. The second, third and fourth daughters all reportedly died from illness, police said. The hospital suggested the incident may be a special case of child abuse where a parent intentionally sickens an offspring.