Japanese woman starved son, 5, to death because he looked like husband

A 26-year-old Nara Prefecture woman who was arrested together with her husband on Wednesday for allegedly starving their 5-year-old son to death has told investigators she could not feel any affection for him because of his resemblance to his father.

Mami Yoshida, a part-time worker, also told investigators her relationship with her husband, Hiroshi, 35, a corporate employee, had soured. The investigators reckon the couple's worsening relations led to the abuse of their son, Tomoki. Yoshida said she felt affection for the couple's other child, a daughter, 3, who shows no signs of having been abused. Her husband was quoted as saying he was aware their son had been getting weak, but did nothing to protect him.

They are suspected of having failed to give sufficient food or provide necessary medical care for their son since early January. On Wednesday, the boy was found unconscious by a municipal official who visited the family home after Yoshida called a child counselling centre. The boy was lying on a futon wearing a diaper and looking emaciated, the city said.

The official called an ambulance to take the boy to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Although the average height of a 5-year-old is 110 cm, their son was only 85 cm tall and weighed just 6.2 kg, a third of the average weight.