Photo/Illutration Yuichiro Kurihara, center, at the Chiba District Court on Feb. 21 (Image drawn by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)

CHIBA--Prosecutors demanded an 18-year prison sentence for a man accused of causing the death of his 10-year-old daughter, saying his abuse was “indescribably horrifying” and amounted to “torture.”

The requested sentence is unusually long for a defendant in a child abuse case.

However, prosecutors concluded on March 9 at the Chiba District Court that the suspect, Yuichiro Kurihara, 42, deserves severe punishment for his abuse of daughter Mia, who was found dead in a bathroom of the family’s home in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, in January 2019.

“It’s an incomparably serious case,” the prosecutors said in their closing arguments.

Kurihara was indicted on six charges, including inflicting bodily injury resulting in death and assaulting his 33-year-old wife between November 2017 and January 2019.

Although he has said that his discipline went too far and led to physical abuse, Kurihara has denied some of the other allegations against him.

A ruling will be delivered on March 19.

Prosecutors said Kurihara tormented Mia both physically and mentally over a prolonged period because she didn’t behave as he wanted.

They said he repeatedly showered her in cold water, forced her to remain standing for a long period and deprived her of food and sleep between Jan. 22 and 24 in 2019.

Prosecutors condemned his actions, saying he “tortured her to death.” They argued that the girl lost her life because her “devil-like” father put her in a state of starvation and stress.

The dozens of bruises found all over Mia’s body also showed that she had suffered from continuous assaults by her father, they said.

Kurihara pleaded innocent to the charge of assaulting his daughter in November 2017.

His defense lawyers also denied that the defendant had instructed his wife not to feed Mia, and they said he doused the girl in cold water only three times and for three seconds each because he wanted to calm her down.

In their closing arguments, the defense lawyers also said the defendant did not abuse Mia on a daily basis.

The suspected assault in November 2017 came to light after Mia revealed her fear of her abusive father in a questionnaire that she submitted to her elementary school.

The fourth-grader was placed in temporary protective custody, but she was later returned to live with her father.

After her death, reports of the decision to allow Kurihara to again regain control of the frightened girl sparked public outrage.

In his closing statement, the defendant used Mia’s nickname and tearfully apologized: “I’m really sorry, Mii-chan, for giving you a hard time.”

(This article was written by Susumu Imaizumi and Akiko Tada.)

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Yuichiro Kurihara, center, at the Chiba District Court on Feb. 21 (Image drawn by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)

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