Parental Discipline Gone Wrong: 7-Year-Old Boy Missing After Parents Left Him In Bear-Infested Area As Punishment

A 7-year-old boy is missing after his parents abandoned him in a bear-infested area of northern Japan. The Japanese police believed that it is a case of parental discipline gone wrong after the father admitted that they purposefully left the child as a form of punishment.

TV Asahi reports that Takayuki Tanooka, 44, requested for a search from the Japanese police on Saturday after his son Yamato Tanooka went missing in the mountains of Nanae, Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. Takayuki initially relayed to the police that his 7-year-old son Yamato was lost in the bear-infested area while they were picking wild vegetables.

A huge team composed of police officers and rescuers immediately launched a search in response to Takayuki's request. The team conducted searches in the mountainous region where the boy was last seen according to his father, but they came up empty-handed.

Parents of missing boy left him in the mountains as punishment: Hokkaido police https://t.co/hyzgXdZZ9g pic.twitter.com/IHwgDmR30P

— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) May 29, 2016

The Japanese police said that out of guilt, Takayuki later admitted that he lied on his initial statement. Takayuki revealed that he and his wife intentionally left their son in the bear-infested area as a punishment for throwing stones at cars on a street nearby.

"The parents left the boy in the mountains as a punishment," a spokesperson of the Japanese police stated. "They said they went back to the site immediately but the boy was no longer there."

The Japanese police are now investigating whether Takayuki and his wife should be charged for leaving Yamato in the bear-infested area as a punishment. The search for the missing boy remains ongoing.

According to the Mirror, the mountains of Hokkaido are a habitat of massive and deadly Ussuri brown bears. These bears are much known for killing humans. There were at least 86 reported attacks by bears on humans with 33 deaths since 1962.

What can you say about this latest case of parental discipline gone wrong? Is it reasonable to prosecute the parents for leaving their son in the bear-infested area? Share your thoughts below.