A vehicle said to be carrying suspect Juki Niimura enters Osaka Prefectural Police's Settsu Police Station in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture, on Oct. 27, 2021. (Mainichi/Ryoichi Mochizuki)

       OSAKA -- Videos have emerged appearing to show a mother and her partner in Osaka Prefecture laughing as they abused her 3-year-old boy, who died in August from exposure to scalding water.

       The boy, Orito Niimura, died after being exposed to extremely hot water at their apartment in the Osaka Prefecture city of Settsu in August. The boy's 23-year-old mother Juki Niimura was arrested Oct. 27 on suspicion of hitting the boy with a cushion while he was alive. The mother's partner, Takumi Matsubara, 24, who has been indicted for murder, was served a new arrest warrant for allegedly assaulting and inflicting injuries on the child.

       The two had filmed videos on Matsubara's smartphone showing the boy being assaulted. Osaka Prefectural Police strongly suspect that the boy had been subjected to abuse on a daily basis.

       A video filmed by the couple showed the boy being beat with a cushion that was swung around, before being flung into the air with great force. His mother and her partner can be heard laughing while the boy is bawling intensely. The video saved on Matsubara's smartphone shows the couple toying with the 3-year-old child.

       According to prefectural police, the video was filmed on the night of June 20. There were records of three videos being taken within only 30 minutes from 8:10 p.m., and in all of them, the boy could be seen being punched in the face and head by Matsubara. A cushion made of soft material was being used for the assault, and prefectural police believe this was done so as not to leave bruises on the boy's face.

       The boy, who started walking toward his mother Juki after being told, "Come here," was hit by Matsubara with great force using a cushion. One of the videos also showed the boy falling off a couch after being struck.

       About one month before this, Juki had consulted the Settsu Municipal Government out of concern for Matsubara's violence toward her son. However, it was the mother herself who continued to film videos of her child wailing and screaming.

       Shortly after the boy's death, Juki is said to have repeatedly defended Matsubara in front of acquaintances who suspected his involvement, by saying, "He looked after my son properly. Since he told me that he would 'take care of everything,' I think it's wrong to blame him."

       (Japanese original by Yusuke Kori and Kumiko Yasumoto, Osaka City News Department)

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