Japanese woman confesses to setting four newborn babies in buckets of concrete 20 years ago

Mayumi Saito, 53, turns self in at Osaka police station overcome with guilt

Press gather outside the apartment in Neyagawa, Osaka, where buckets filled with concrete and human bones were found (Chika Oshima/Kyodo News/AP)

Japanese police say a woman went to a police station and confessed to putting four newborns in concrete-filled buckets two decades ago and having been filled with guilt over not caring for the babies.

Police said 53-year-old Mayumi Saito was arrested on Tuesday on charges of abandoning bodies, a day after she turned herself in at an Osaka police station. The official said human bones were identified in buckets found in her condominium.

The police official requested anonymity due to department policy.

Saito was quoted by police as saying she put the bodies into concrete from 1992 through 1997 because she had been too poor to raise them, but she had been filled with guilt.

Saito had a part-time job, but details of her work and family were not available.

AP