Child-abuse deaths climb to 126 in 2006

Abuse was cited in 126 deaths of children in 2006, a sharp increase from the 86 who died the previous year, mainly due to a rise in the number of family murder-suicides by parents or guardians, a health ministry survey showed.

A secondary factor was sheer neglect, the survey found.

The 100 cases that led to the deaths was in contrast to 70 in 2005, the survey found.

In 83 cases, child counseling centers, local governments or hospitals had contacted the abusive parents, but failed to prevent the deaths.

The results are to be included in a report to the ministry by a panel of experts discussing ways to prevent child abuse.

The survey found 55 percent of the 126 children who died in 2006 were 3 years old or younger. Some were infants of less than a year.

Of the total, 65 were killed in murder-suicides, more than double the 30 slain in 2005.

Thirty-five children died after being physically abused by their parents or guardians, down from 44 the year before.

In addition, 23 children died of neglect, again a sharp increase from the previous seven.

In 29 cases, the victims were killed by their own mothers.

Some perpetrators questioned by officials after the slayings said they were trying to discipline their children or were angry because their children would not stop crying.

In 83 of the 100 cases, officials at child counseling centers, local governments or hospitals had contacted the parents or guardians after receiving reports of possible child abuse or giving medical treatment to the children.

In 70 of those 83 cases, however, staff either did not notice the abuse or concluded the cases were not serious enough to warrant intervention.

In the other 13 cases, the organizations did attempt to deal with the abuse. But they did not move quickly or effectively enough to place the children in protective custody and thus failed to save their lives.(IHT/Asahi: March 13,2008)