Dead Japanese father kept hidden in wardrobe for five years

The Mainichi Daily News, a Japanese newspaper, reported this macabre tale about a 55-year-old man who did not report the death of his father and kept him stuffed in a wardrobe even after the body began to smell in order to continue to receive government pension checks in his name.

Japan is a land renowned for its elderly population, but it would certainly seem now that these records might not all reflect honest life spans and are nothing more than good old scams to perpetrate government checks.

An investigation for fraud is under way as well as the crime of abandonment of the father’s body. The ruse continued for five years until the son was admitted to the hospital and during his stay, his ex-wife visited the apartment.

She knew that her ex father-in-law had been living with his son for the last decade and wondered why there was no trace of him or his belongings anywhere.

She called authorities and an officer visiting the apartment followed his nose to the wardrobe. After obtaining a warrant, the police discovered the mummified remains.

This is not the first time in Japan when relatives have hushed up the death of an elderly family member in order to continue reaping the benefits of their pension and it probably won’t be the last.

Still, a wardrobe hardly seems like an honorable resting place for what was once a human being.


/Weird Asia News/