A 32-year-old Kobe man is in custody for the murder of his sister's son and is also accused of raping her

HYOGO (TR) – The body of 6-year-old Nao Hosaka was discovered in a suitcase dumped in Kobe City in June last year.

The following month, the boy's uncle, Daichi Hosaka, 33, his mother Saki and two twin aunts who lived with him were accused of abandoning a body. They were later accused of murder.

According to police, on June 19, 2023, the four siblings repeatedly hit Nao with a metal pipe in their home. They then climbed onto his back and stomped on him several times with both feet, resulting in his death.

An examination of Nao's body revealed numerous bruises on his back. The cause of death was likely traumatic shock, police said last year.

According to news reports, Daichi was a ringleader of violence in the home after moving into the residence in December 2022.

It's certainly a terrible story up to this point. But unfortunately that's not the end of it. The latest allegations show that Daichi's apparent motive was romantic feelings for Saki, which police say he expressed through sexual assault.

Held in a closet

The four siblings, the 6-year-old boy and his grandmother lived in the same apartment in Nishi Ward. Nao's body was found in a suitcase on a lawn near the residence on June 22, 2023.

The story surfaced two days earlier when a passerby found the boy's grandmother, Yumiko Hosaka, then 54, with bruises on a street. The apartment's fifth resident, she had just escaped from the house after being held in a closet for about three months.

Her children, including Saki, Daichi and twins Tomomi Hosaka and Asaka Hosaka, beat her with a steel pipe, police said at the time.

Saki later took the police to the lawn. The boy's body was in the suitcase. He suffered bruises on his back. An examination of surveillance camera footage showed that the four siblings went out with a suitcase.

The four siblings were initially arrested on June 22 of the same year on suspicion of injuring and imprisoning Yumiko between March and June.

They were arrested again on July 13 on suspicion of leaving a body behind. Ten days later they were again accused of murder.

Autopsy results showed Nao died around June 19.

Based on Yumiko's statement, the police concluded that Daichi had instructed the other family members to organize the suitcase so that it could be used to dump the boy's body.

Evaluation by an expert

After these arrests, the public prosecutor's office took the siblings into custody for about eight months to be examined by an expert. After the assessment, it was concluded that they could be tried in criminal court.

In April of this year, the four siblings were charged with assault causing death and abandonment of a corpse. However, Daichi's accusations did not end there.

“On June 25, prefectural police arrested Daichi again on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse and indecent assault on his sister [Saki] and other [his sisters]“, a local news reporter told Gendai Business (July 9). “Daichi is accused of threatening his three sisters and committing indecent acts against them between the evening of the day he left Nao's body and the following morning.”

In other words, Daichi orchestrated the firing of his nephew's boy and sexually abused his sisters within a single day.

“The turning point of the incident is said to have been Daichi’s birthday in May,” says an investigator, “which was not long before the incident. He was angry that his family didn't celebrate with him and told his siblings that “June will be a month of hell.” His target was Nao, the weakest member of the family.”

Daichi denies the latest allegations.

“But he has also admitted that he has romantic feelings for his sister,” the aforementioned investigative source continues. “It is very likely that he committed the crime out of jealousy after seeing it [Saki] “take care of Nao.”

On September 3, police filed new charges against Daichi for the alleged attack in which Saki and others were injured by the metal pipe.

On June 18, 2023, he is said to have hit Saki several times in the house with the metal pipe and threatened her with a kitchen knife. He also beat and injured his twin aunts and grandmother with a rubber spatula and other objects.

According to police, he threatened Saki by saying, “Are you ready to die?” As he said this, he pointed a kitchen knife at her back. Police believe Daichi abused and controlled his family on a daily basis Sankei Shimbun (September 9).

Daichi denies the latest allegations. “Everything written [in the arrest warrant] is a misunderstanding. “That’s a lie,” he said.

“I can’t go in”

There were signs of problems before June 2023. From February onwards, Nao stopped attending daycare. In addition, two months later, facility staff discovered multiple bruises on his buttocks and shoulder.

In May, neighbors found Nao on the balcony. “Help, I can’t go in,” he said.

The daycare center contacted the city of Kobe because the case involved possible child abuse. However, when community officials visited the house, Saki and Yumiko denied knowing where the bruises came from.

Officers returned to the apartment on May 1. By this time, the bruises had healed, leading officials to believe there was no immediate danger to the boy.

However, Saki told officials that raising Nao was difficult. She then asked them if they could temporarily take the child into custody.

The Kobe City Child Welfare Center was preparing to take custody of Nao that day. However, when the officials came to visit, Yumiko said that they were able to raise the child.