Girl, 7, confined in room with corpse

NAGOYA, Japan - A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of holding a primary school girl captive for nearly 12 hours in his Nagoya apartment, which may have been the scene of a murder.

The girl was found unharmed Monday evening in the man’s condominium, which is in the same building as her home. A body that appeared to have been strangled was also found in the apartment. The body was later identified as the man’s 66-year-old father. Police are investigating the man’s death.

According to the police, Makoto Mizushima allegedly took the 7-year-old girl into his condo unit at 8 a.m. Monday and held her captive until around 7:30 p.m.

Police were notified and a search was started after the girl failed to meet up with her classmates at the condominium to walk to school together.

Police said Mizushima pretended that nobody was home, leaving the lights off even as it grew dark.

When police officers finally entered the apartment, they found the girl sitting in a chair in the living room with the body lying on the floor covered by a blanket.

The body, later confirmed to be the man’s father Masakazu, had wounds on the neck and head believed to have been caused by strangulation and several blows from a blunt object. Masakazu is not believed to have been dead for long and the police were scheduled to perform an autopsy Tuesday.

Mizushima had lived with his father in the condominium for about one year. He reportedly told the police he did not know the girl, and took her to his apartment after speaking to her Monday morning. He reportedly has admitted to killing his father.

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)2012 The Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo)

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