Brabant couple gets 4 years for starving, abusing their children

The court in Breda convicted couple Hidufun and Noriku M. from Molenschot of attempted manslaughter and sentenced them to four years in prison. They were found guilty of starving, neglecting and abusing six of their seven children, AD reports.

The court considered the couple, originally from Japan, guilty of attempted manslaughter because their children received so little to eat that they could have died. According to the court, it is very likely that one or more of the kids would not have survived much longer without intervention. The kids begged for food from classmates and searched the garbage for something to eat.

The parents were arrested in June last year after police officers found a severely malnourished child in Sevenum, Limburg. The12-year-old boy had wandered away from his parents and siblings in an almost comatose state. According to AD, the family had fled to Limburg from domestic abuse center Veilig Thuis. The boy's bones protruded from his body. "He was in a distant country, far away from familiar territory. It is hard to imagine how desperate he must have been", the judge said.

The couple's children were admitted to hospital after their parents' arrest. They were hospitalized for ten days to strengthen. They had slow heartbeats and lunago - fine, downy hair that grows in abnormal places as the body's emergency attempt to keep warm. 

During the trail two weeks ago, the parents blamed each other for the children's neglect and abuse. The Public Prosecutor demanded four years in prison against the father and three years against the mother.