OMM Newsroom
TOKYO — A mother in Japan has sued Hyogo Prefectural Police over the arrest and detention of her 16-year-old daughter, who died five months after being released from custody, according to CNN.
The case, whose proceedings opened this week, alleges that the girl’s arrest and detention were unlawful and led to her death. Her mother, identified by CNN under the alias Yoko, is seeking 109 million yen ($700,000) in damages.
Yoko told CNN that her daughter, Runa, was held for 18 days last year on suspicion of assaulting a resident at the care home Yoko runs for people with special needs. Police declined to comment on the details of the complaint, and CNN said it could not independently verify the allegations.
Yoko said Runa had tried to stop an agitated resident from biting others by putting a hand around the person’s chin. Runa denied the allegation and was never charged.
While in custody, Runa stopped eating. After her release, she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Her weight continued to fall, and she died five months later weighing about 20 kilograms, roughly the average weight of a 6-year-old girl. Her death was attributed to malnutrition due to an eating disorder.
“I want the police and prosecutors to reflect on their duty to care for people and protect citizens, and to tell the truth in court,” Yoko said.
Runa’s notes from detention included repeated pleas to see her mother. “Please, I beg you. I want to see my mom,” she wrote in a notepad provided to her, according to CNN.
Japan’s Juvenile Law says minors should be incarcerated only when it is “unavoidable.” Defense attorney Megumi Wada said the term has never been clearly defined and is open to interpretation by authorities.
Government statistics show that more than 6,000 suspects under the age of 20 were detained in 2024. Of those, 4,000 were held for more than 15 days.
Lawyers have questioned why Runa was detained for more than two weeks and denied access to her mother. Mikio Uehara, a former public prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, called her death “extremely tragic” and said he had “strong doubts as to whether detention was truly necessary.”
Hyogo Prefectural Police said it would not comment on individual cases. A spokesperson said the matter was the subject of a pending state compensation lawsuit and that the prefecture’s position would be made clear in court.
Japan’s Ministry of Justice has repeatedly rejected allegations of “hostage justice,” saying the rights of people accused of wrongdoing are given due consideration.
Runa was arrested on June 17 last year, four months after the alleged assault. Police took her from the family’s care home before Yoko, who had rushed back after hearing about the arrest, could see her, her mother said.
Prosecutors sought, and a court granted, a ban on visits by Yoko for the 18 days of Runa’s detention, citing concerns that she could tamper with evidence as the facility’s owner. Through Runa’s lawyer, Yoko learned that her daughter was not eating properly. She said authorities rejected her requests for Runa’s meal records.
Runa collapsed the night before her release and was taken to hospital, Yoko said. The next morning, her mother said, Runa was extremely weak and had to be carried to the car.
“She had become skin and bones and came out screaming and crying,” Yoko told CNN. She said Runa could barely walk 10 metres.
Runa’s lawyer, Yoshihiro Mukai, said she was overwhelmed with anxiety during their meetings in custody and repeatedly asked what would happen to her. Notes she wrote also expressed her wish to see her mother.
Japan has facilities known as Shonen Kanbetsu Sho for temporarily housing juvenile suspects. Wada said they were seldom used for detentions shorter than two weeks, meaning minors could face conditions similar to those of adults. She said it was unclear why Runa was not moved to a juvenile facility after the first two weeks.
Wada also said she had not seen other cases in which parents were barred from seeing a suspect. A separate police guideline calls on investigators to do their best to accommodate juvenile suspects’ requests for an appropriate adult, such as a parent, to be present, including during questioning. Tomonobu Ishida, a law professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, said the guideline was an internal administrative rule and was not legally binding.
Ishida said that even if there had been a genuine risk of evidence being destroyed, he had difficulty seeing how such a long detention could be proportionate given the alleged conduct and Runa’s age.
Yoko said that after Runa’s release early last July, she became suspicious of adults, including the doctors and nurses who came to treat her. Her family tried offering foods including ice cream and nuts, but Yoko said they could not get Runa to eat. Her distrust of the system also complicated efforts to get her to hospital, as she resisted being taken there.
Mai Uchida, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said teenagers should not be treated as “a smaller version of adults,” as their emotional and cognitive control is still developing and they experience and process stress differently. She said appetite loss can follow traumatic events and cannot be reversed simply by urging someone to eat more.
Uchida said PTSD could affect gastrointestinal functioning and appetite, potentially causing significant weight loss that could contribute to death.
Human rights groups have warned about stress experienced by suspects in Japanese detention, including aggressive questioning and limited access to lawyers. Some legal experts say lengthy detention is too common regardless of a suspect’s age.
Government statistics show that about 65% of the 85,040 adults detained in Japan in 2024 spent more than 15 days in police custody. Uehara said the practice required urgent reform.
Yoko said she hoped the lawsuit could help bring change. “Winning this lawsuit would mean that, even if Runa is no longer physically here, it will serve as proof that she lived and left a legacy behind to reform this justice system,” she said.
