July 7 2026
TOKYO – In the case involving a teenage girl with an intellectual disability who was allegedly confined in a closet at her family’s home in Machida, in which her parents and two brothers – a total of four people – were arrested and indicted, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigation Division on July 6 arrested another teenage brother on suspicion of unlawful confinement, according to investigative sources. Police believe the girl had been subjected to abuse by every other member of her family.
On the same day, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police re-arrested the girl’s mother, who is in her 40s, on a separate suspicion of unlawful confinement involving the girl. According to investigative sources, the mother denied the allegations, saying, “I don’t remember,” while the teenage brother has largely admitted to the accusations.
According to those familiar with the case, the girl lived with her parents and three brothers, making up a family of six. The mother and one of the brothers had depression, while the other two brothers had mild intellectual disabilities.
The newly arrested teenage brother is suspected of repeatedly forcing the girl into a closet approximately 20 times between November 28, 2025, and January 28, 2026, locking it from the outside and confining her there.
The mother is suspected, in the separate case, of unlawfully confining the girl on December 27 and 28, 2025, by pressing a frozen plastic bottle against her chest and restraining her with a blue tarp, among other acts.
Barrier Free Japan 
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