81-Year-Old Man Pushes Disabled Wife Into Sea Because He’s ‘Tired’ Of Looking After Her

An elderly man has been arrested in Japan for killing his wheel-chair bound wife by pushing her to the sea. He has reportedly admitted to the crime and said he took the life of his disabled wife because he grew “tired” of taking care of her.

The man, identified as 81-year-old Hiroshi Fujiwara, murdered his 79-year-old wife Teruko by tipping her wheelchair into the sea on Nov. 3, as he had been fed up caring for her on his own for more than 40 years, Hindustan Times reported.

On the day of the incident, Fujiwara drove Teruko to a pier in Oiso, a town in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. He then pushed his wife’s wheelchair along the pier for some time before tipping her into the waters.

After committing the crime, Fujiwara confessed to his eldest son who then called the cops and said, “My dad says he pushed mum into the sea,” according to the outlet.

Fujiwara was taken into custody on charges of murder.

Later that day, fishermen spotted the elderly woman’s body floating in the water and rushed her to the hospital. However, she was pronounced dead.

The couple was reportedly living on their own, so Fujiwara was singlehandedly looking after his wife.

More than one-quarter of people in Japan are aged 65 and above, and it is estimated to reach one-third of the population by 2050. There are growing reports of elderly abuse and deaths from elderly abuse in the country, according to South China Morning Post. Based on a 2020 report cited by the outlet, 17,281 cases of elderly people getting abused by their own family members were logged, and 25 of these incidents turned fatal.

Meanwhile, Fujiwara’s case has sparked heated online discussions about elderly care in the country. Many users have sympathized with the elderly man, saying he acted out of his helplessness.

“I don’t think this was an evil act. More likely out of mutual love, but still a very difficult thing to agree to for both of them,” a user said, as reported by the outlet, while another wrote, “How sad. After all these years the man has given up and decided to end his partner’s life. This is not easy for many to understand unless you’ve been there.”