A man charged with abuse that led to the 2018 death of his 5-year-old stepdaughter Yua Funato told the Tokyo District Court Friday that he started assaulting her after his efforts at disciplining her did not work.

"My disciplining was unsuccessful, and I started assaulting her as my anger grew," Yudai Funato, 34, said during questioning by his defense counsel in the lay judge trial.

According to the indictment, Funato assaulted Yua and deprived her of food in Tokyo's Meguro Ward from around late January last year, and failed to take her to a hospital when her condition seriously deteriorated the following month for fear that it would expose his abuse.