
A police officer stands near a house in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, where the body of a young girl was found on Tuesday. | KYODO
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 1st, at about 3 am, a call came into the police in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. The caller stated that he had strangled his daughter.
Some 40 minutes later, authorities arrived at the residence.
Inside, authorities found Kazuhiro Hayama, 51, and his 40 year old wife.
The victim, three year old Yui Hayama, was found in a Japanese-style room within the home that was owned by Hayama's parents and generally remained vacant.
According to Japan Today, the couple was quoted by police as stating that they had intended to kill their daughter and then themselves due to the debt that they were in, but they were unable to go through withe their plans.
Both parents were arrested.
Authorities noted that the girl did not have any other bruises or indications of past abuse.