Man Swung 2-Year-Old Daughter Upside Down, Smashed Her Head Against Table For Not Eating Dinner

A man has been arrested after he allegedly swung his 2-year-old daughter upside down and smashed her head against a table for not eating dinner in Hirataka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

The accused man, identified as 24-year-old Rintaro Hirai, a self-employed worker, allegedly grabbed his 2-year-old daughter by the ankles and hung her upside down at their apartment in Hirataka City, Osaka Prefecture on Dec 26, 2021. He then reportedly swung the child from left to right and smashed her head into a table, Japan Today reported.

The incident reportedly caused severe injuries to the toddler and the girl required a month to recover from the abrasions she sustained.

When officers interrogated Hirai, he admitted to the allegations and told the officers that he grabbed her daughter and swung her around as punishment because the girl was crying and refused to eat her dinner. However, he told the officers that he never intended to hit her head against a table, the Mainichi reported.

“She was crying and wouldn’t eat her dinner, so I swung her around as punishment but never intended to hit her head against a table,” Hirai told the officers.

The incident came to light after the staff working at the girl's preschool noticed that the child had a swollen face when she attended preschool last December. When the staff contacted Hirai regarding her appearance, Hirai told them that she was injured after being hit by the front door.

However, police officers reportedly received additional reports of the child crying. Following these reports, child consultation center officials visited Hirai’s household four times to investigate until July this year.

Hirai lives in a four-person household with his 20-year-old wife and his two daughters, aged three and five.

Hirai was previously arrested in August 2021 after his partner reported him to the police for shooting his 2-year-old daughter in the stomach with an air gun.

Hirai was rearrested on Monday, Sept. 12, on suspicion of assaulting his then two-year-old daughter. The officers are questioning Hirai and the child’s mother about whether he has repeatedly abused his daughters after the air gun incident.

Both his daughters currently remain in protective custody.