Japan mother held for dumping newborn baby’s body in locker

A Japanese mother who allegedly delivered and killed her newborn baby at a Tokyo cafe before dumping the corpse in a locker was arrested Saturday, police said.

Officers found the decomposing body of an infant, who appeared to have been choked to death, in the locker last month after unpleasant smells were reported there.

The 25-year-old mother, Mao Togawa, was detained on suspicion of abandoning a body, according to a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The suspect is likely to also later face a murder charge as she largely admitted the allegations, local media said.

She told investigators that she gave birth in January at a cafe where customers drink and read comic books in the capital’s entertainment district of Kabukicho, the spokesman and reports said.

The suspect admitted that she killed the baby immediately “because she cried” and then put the body in a suitcase which she left in a nearby baggage locker, they said.

Police questioned the suspect after CCTV footage showed her slotting coins into the locker — in a busy area with many restaurants, bars and hotels — to keep it closed. /muf