Masato Watabe made no effort to hide the killing. A little over an hour after he held his hand over his victim’s mouth until she was no longer breathing, he called the emergency services. Taken into custody, 79-year-old Watabe admitted to police that he alone was to blame for her death.
Instead of blanket condemnation, however, Watabe has attracted sympathy in Japan, which is struggling to come up with solutions to a rapidly ageing population and growing pressure on families to take care of the elderly and infirm.
“I killed my mother,” police quoted Watabe as saying. “I held her mouth. I was too tired from caring for her.
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“I am not feeling well myself, and I have become worried about what would happen to my mother if I were no longer able to care for her,” the Mainichi newspaper quoted Watabe as telling police.
Watabe had been living with his 100-year-old mother in a house in the western Tokyo suburb of Machida for several years before apparently reaching the end of his tether on November 25. His mother, Masako, was found on a nursing bed in their house.
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The public response has been understanding, with comments on social media centred on users voicing hope they would never be in the same situation.