Megumi Kinoshita died after she was brutally assaulted by the man she was living with in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, in June 2018.

Kinoshita, 40, was survived by two daughters.

The man is currently serving time in a prison for inflicting bodily injury resulting in death.

The following year, the daughters, residents of Osaka Prefecture, applied for benefits for crime victims to the Osaka Prefectural Public Safety Commission.

But in July 2020, the authorities ruled that the woman's children should be denied the benefits because their mother was considered a common-law wife of the man who beat her to death.

The daughters filed a request for reconsideration with the National Public Safety Commission, saying that their mother “was continuously suffering from domestic violence, was determined to break up with the man and was looking for a place to move to.”

“It was a broken relationship,” they said in the request.

The prefectural commission issued a rebuttal statement that said it “could not confirm violence in the three months immediately prior to the incident” and that their relationship was not broken.

But the prefectural commission has since rescinded the decision, deciding to pay the benefits to the daughters.

Their lawyer, Tomomi Yofu, said the prefectural police officers who are the contact point for the prefectural commission informed them about the reversal on Oct. 12. The authorities confirmed that the domestic violence was continuous based on a criminal trial record and other related evidence, the lawyer said.

A key rule that had stood in the daughters' path and blocked them from compensation sets out that these benefits cannot be paid out when a crime occurs among family members because the money could potentially pass into the hands of the perpetrator.

But when family relationships are effectively broken due to domestic violence or other reasons, this rule has been effectively broken since fiscal 2018.

“I am confused, to be honest, because the prefectural police must have known about the trial records for some time,” Yofu said. “This time, the decision was reversed. But I urge authorities to review a case in light of the circumstances because it is hard for victims of domestic violence to leave the perpetrator out of fear of violence.”

The daughters are now expected to receive several millions of yen.

The second daughter, who is now 20, met the then-Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa in April this year and explained how she felt about the decision denying the benefits.

“I had felt restless all the time,” she said about the payment being made three years after her mother's death. “I wish the (money) was paid from the beginning.”

Mamoru Fujimoto, who heads an association consisting of crime victims and bereaved families, said the overall amount in benefits paid to crime victims has declined since it peaked in 2011.

“A public safety commission is supposed to make a decision, but only police officers review an application in real terms,” Fujimoto said, urging more objectivity in the review process.

A prefectural police official declined to comment on the children’s case.

Atsuko Ban, a lawyer who has supported crime victims, said it is not surprising that the decision was reversed.

“In instances of domestic violence within a marriage, victims in only very limited cases, such as one in which a restraining order is issued against the perpetrator, were considered eligible to receive the benefits,” Ban said.

But a panel of experts set up by the National Police Agency that discussed the matter added being in “a broken relationship” as a condition to be eligible for benefits.

“But what makes (authorities) conclude that a relationship is broken has not been passed along to officials down the line,” Ban said.

Ban said the rule needs to be changed so that benefits should be, in principle, paid out to victims of a crime that took place between relatives. She added that the authorities then should carefully review cases on an individual basis.

“I want the central government to set up a policy to thoroughly compensate crime victims,” Ban said.