Abused girl’s report on bullying by her father conveyed to him

January 31, 2019

Chiba--A Japanese municipal board of education handed a copy of a school questionnaire in which a 10-year-old girl reported her father's bullying of her, to the father himself, officials said Thursday.

In a fatal child abuse case, the Chiba prefectural police last week arrested the 41-year-old father, Yuichiro Kurihara, on suspicion of injuring the girl, Mia. She was found dead in the bathroom of their home in Noda, Chiba, Jan. 24.

The questionnaire about bullying was conducted in November 2017 by the Noda municipal primary school she then attended, the board officials said, adding that the copy was handed to Kurihara at his request.

A child consultation center in Kashiwa, also Chiba, temporarily took her into protective custody after the school reported the suspected abuse to the Noda city government.

After the protection period ended in late December 2017, she was placed with relatives.

On Jan. 12, 2018, the father visited the primary school and complained about these measures. He said he would file a lawsuit.

When the school talked about the questionnaire to him, he demanded to check it. The education board gave him the copy on Jan. 15 that year.

He transferred the daughter to another municipal primary school in Noda just after this. She did not report any bullying in questionnaires carried out by her new school in July and November that year.

The board did not think that giving the copy to the father would cause a problem, an official said, adding the board wanted him to understand the difference between discipline and physical punishment.

The official also said the actions of the board and her previous school may have helped "increase the risk of abuse." Jiji Press