NAGOYA — Prosecutors have decided to drop charges of negligent driving against a woman for causing harm to a fetus in May, it has been learned. The child’s mother died after being struck by a moving vehicle in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, and the child was born with severe disabilities after the incident.
The Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Naoko Chigono, 50, for negligent driving causing the death of Sayaka Togitani, 31, in violation of the Law on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, etc. Togitani was nine months pregnant at the time.
The family requested that Hinami, the baby girl who was delivered via emergency cesarean section and remains unconscious with severe brain damage, be recognized as a victim as well. However, the Penal Code does not consider a fetus to be a person.
Chigono is currently on trial for fatally striking Togitani from behind while she was walking. The prosecutors office will not apply the charge to Hinami under the same law, but it plans to add Hinami’s case to the statement of indictment in another form, according to sources close to the prosecutors.
The prosecutors are expected to give an explanation at the next hearing, which is scheduled to take place in January next year.
Hinami remains unconscious due to severe brain damage. Her 33-year-old father started an online petition to ensure that Chigono should be held responsible for Hinami’s injuries.
He submitted the signed petition, bearing more than 110,000 names, to the prosecutors’ office in September.
In cases involving fetuses, the 1988 Supreme Court decision on Kumamoto Minamata disease is a key precedent. The decision established that death resulting from professional negligence is a crime when a child contracts an illness in the womb and dies after birth.
Despite conducting supplementary investigations including crucial interviews with doctors regarding the extent of Hinami’s injuries, the prosecutors’ office is believed to have concluded that applying the specific charge would be difficult.
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