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A 26-year-old mother in Takamatsu in western Japan was arrested Friday for allegedly leaving her two small daughters in a parked car at night while she went bar-hopping, leading to their deaths due to heatstroke, police said.
The daughters -- Mayuri, 6, and Yurie, 3 -- were found unresponsive Thursday afternoon and pronounced dead at a hospital. The suspect, Maria Takeuchi, was drinking until dawn, according to the police.
Autopsy found that the girls died of dehydration cause by heatstroke, the police said. The temperature rose as high as 37.6 C Thursday in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, a record for September for the city.
Takeuchi allegedly left them in a passenger car in a parking lot in Takamatsu from around 9 p.m. Wednesday, resulting in their deaths, the police said, adding that she is remaining silent regarding the allegations.
After drinking until dawn Thursday, she moved the car and found the girls limp on the rear seat. As she did not call for an ambulance until the afternoon, the police are investigating what she did during the intervening time.
When police officers and rescuers arrived at the scene, Takeuchi told them she had left the car for a period of two hours as she needed to go to the restroom for her chronic disease, the police said, adding that they believe she lied to avoid being arrested.
Inside the vehicle, there were half-empty bottles of water and a half-eaten bag of bread, they said.
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