A Wretched Mother

This was what I read with disenchantment in the news today. That a single Japanese mother left her twin toddlers in the care of her 6-year-old son, while she went gallivanting for 11 days with her boyfriend. Her elder son called her mobile for several dozen times a day but his calls were largely ignored. All she did was to place hamburgers, bread, cookies and other food at the entrance of the house once or twice a day. 9 days later, the 6-year-old called her to say his brother would not wake up. She returned to the house but did not have the courage to enter it. Instead, she went to a pub and got drunk. The next day, her son called her again, saying: 'He still won't wake up.' 2 days later, she finally returned home and found the two-year-old boy dead in a crib covered in garbage and faeces. She slapped the older boy's face and said: 'You are disqualified as my child. Though I'm responsible, you are also responsible. You must have eaten all the food by yourself.' According to the report, the toddler starved to death. The other twin toddler suffered from severe dehydration. She was sentenced to a mere 6 years in prison for this. But I am sure she will live a lifetime of guilt and despair. What's most saddening is that the 6-year-old told prosecutors: 'Mum told me I was fired because I didn't take care of the twins. It's all my fault.'

I cannot imagine this abominable act of neglect by a mother to her own flesh and blood. The physical destruction to her toddlers. The indelible psychological blemish to her 6-year-old child, at an age that is still too young to look after himself, much less a pair of toddlers, without a loving mother's protection.

Reading this story brought tears to my eyes, and I gazed at my 2 angels, vowing to protect them even fiercer for the rest of my life.