A 23-year-old woman has been given a suspended sentence after she was found guilty of abandoning the body of her newborn baby boy in a parking lot in Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture, in October.
The Sendai District Court on Monday sentenced Tomoka Watanabe, a part-time worker, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, Sankei Shimbun reported.
Watanabe stated in court that she became pregnant with the child of her boss, with whom she was having an affair, but couldn’t tell him because she didn’t want to be hated by her him or her colleagues.
The court heard that Watanabe gave birth in the bathroom at her home. Believing that the baby was stillborn due to lack of crying or movement, she placed the body in a plastic bag before burying it in the ground at a nearby parking lot.
The presiding judge condemned her impulsive and thoughtless decision-making but also stated that her rehabilitation in society was desirable.
© Japan Today
