CHIBA – A Chiba court said Friday a guilty verdict for a woman who was complicit in her husband’s fatal assaults on their 10-year-old daughter has been finalized.
Nagisa Kurihara, 32, did not appeal the ruling by Wednesday’s deadline. The Chiba District Court sentenced her in late June to 30 months in prison, suspended for five years with probation. Prosecutors, who had sought a two-year jail term, also did not appeal.
According to the June 26 ruling, Kurihara failed to report the abuse by her husband, Yuichiro, 41, of their daughter Mia, who was found dead on Jan. 24 in the bathroom of the family home in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, and complied with his instructions not to feed her. The court acknowledged she had also been abused by him.
The ruling found the father abused Mia in various ways, such as repeatedly soaking her in cold showers and depriving her of food and sleep between Jan. 22 and Jan. 24, with the mother failing to stop him.
The case has attracted attention as it came to light that a child welfare center, her school, and other local services did not properly respond to Mia’s repeated calls for help.
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