A woman in Japan was arrested for allegedly locking her naked partner on their balcony for the night, leading to his death from the cold, police said Friday.

The 54-year-old was arrested on charges of assault and lethal confinement, police in southern Japan’s Nagasaki region told the AFP news agency.

In February 2022, the woman “ordered the victim to get out on a balcony while he was naked, and confined him there,” local official Masafumi Tanigawa said.

The next day police rushed to the scene after an emergency call, and the 49-year-old was found “nearly dead” in a room, Tanigawa said, adding he later died of hypothermia.

The temperature that night dropped to a low of 3.7 Celsius (38.66 Fahrenheit), the Mainichi daily reported.

The woman had earlier attacked her partner, who was her common-law husband, with a knife, leaving him with nose injuries that took two weeks to heal.

An autopsy revealed a cut wound on the man’s nose, and police are investigating the possibility that the man was a victim of daily domestic violence, the Mainichi reported.

The woman denies the charges, telling police that “I’ve done nothing,” Tanigawa quoted her as saying.

Police did not say why it had taken so long to formally charge her.

Last year, about one in four spouses in Japan reported experiencing physical abuse from their partners, the Japan Times reported, citing government statistics. Among those who said they were physically abused by their spouses, 12.6% reported that they felt that their lives were in danger, the survey showed.

In:
• Murder
• Japan