Grisly Murders By Juveniles Say Something About Society

Aichi Police Gather Evidence Bags Outside Station

 

A spate of grisly murders by teenage girls has galvanized public attention. In December, a first-year university student was taken into custody over the slaying of a 77-year-old woman in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The two cases are under investigation. Last summer, a first-year senior high school student in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, killed a classmate. 

Both girls reportedly told police they "wanted to know what it feels like to kill someone." Their stated motive brings to mind a 1997 case in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, where a 14-year-old boy murdered two elementary school pupils.

In all these killings, I glimpse "the darkness of the human heart," if you will forgive the cliche.

Obviously, one would be extremely naive to lament a loss of sanity among teenage girls today based only on what those two have done.

In fact, statistics show that crimes by juveniles have been on the decline in recent years. Specific cases should always be distinguished from the overall trend.

In the Sasebo case, a local child guidance center was blamed for not dealing properly with the girl, who has since undergone psychiatric evaluation. Her trial is scheduled to start soon in juvenile court. The Nagoya girl was placed in confinement recently for psychiatric evaluation. To prevent similar tragedies from occurring, we must not think these girls are merely aberrations who have nothing to do with us.

Retired judge Yasuhiro Igaki, who presided over the 1997 Kobe case, commented last October in The Asahi Shimbun's opinion section that the public should be fully informed about the reasons some young people are driven to murder. No child must be made to feel abandoned, he emphasized.

This is the hard lesson he learned from the about 6,000 cases he handled during his career.