A body reduced to a skeleton was recently discovered in an apartment in Nada Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Earlier this month, police arrested a 60-year-old unemployed man and began investigating him on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
According to police, the deceased was the man's 95-year-old mother. The man confessed that he found his mother collapsed and dead in the bathroom as early as 10 years ago, but due to his social anxiety disorder, he was unable to report it to the authorities for a long time.
The case traces back to May this year. At that time, Nada Ward office staff discovered the man on the street, unable to walk due to a fracture. After assisting him with medical treatment, they tried to contact his family, but found that he refused to talk about his mother. The ward office thus reported the situation to the police for further investigation.
At the end of June, police went to the man's residence and found the room piled high with garbage, barely passable. After days of searching, they eventually discovered a fully skeletonized body in the bathroom, making it impossible to immediately determine gender or age, but they surmised it had been dead for many years. Forensic examination revealed no external injuries on the remains, nor any signs of foul play, and the time of death was determined to be more than a year ago. DNA comparison confirmed the deceased was the man's mother.
After his arrest, the man confessed that his mother suddenly collapsed in the bathroom years ago and her body was cold and unresponsive. Although he realized she had already died, his long-term struggle with social anxiety disorder made it difficult for him to communicate with the outside world or handle related matters, so he ultimately chose to hide the incident.
The police are currently conducting further investigation to determine the exact time and cause of death.
According to medical sources, social anxiety disorder is a common psychological disorder. Patients feel extreme anxiety and fear in situations involving social interaction, attention, or evaluation; they often avoid social occasions or fall into emotional distress, and severe cases can even affect daily life.