Two relatives of the victims wrote to the press shortly before the one year anniversary of the 26 people involved in the arson that killed a clinic in an Osaka building.

He writes that he still has not accepted the reality, and appeals to the fact that the government does not provide enough support to the bereaved families of crime victims.

In December last year, a psychosomatic medicine clinic in a building in Kita-ku, Osaka was set on fire, and 26 patients and staff were involved and died.



Just before one year has passed since the incident, an organization that supports the bereaved families of the victims has released the memoirs of two bereaved families.

Among them, a woman who lost her husband said, "The past year has flown by so quickly. Many people have helped me to survive. But my beloved husband is no longer in this world. He cherishes us so much." My husband who loved my child more than anyone else.He's gone.I still haven't accepted the reality.My time has stopped on that day.I spend my time as usual, that day. I was supposed to go home as usual on that day, but I have a lot of things at home that I had that day.I want to go back to that fun day.



Another woman, who lost her husband, said that many of the victims were unemployed at the time because the state benefits given to the families of crime victims were calculated based on their income before the crime. I am complaining that I can not receive sufficient compensation.



The woman said, "Both my husband and the people who participated in the rework program with me at that time were all working hard with the goal of overcoming dismissal and retirement due to illness and returning to work. The value of my husband's life. It was measured by the "income" at the moment of the damage, and I felt that I was told that the value of your family's life was light. What should I do to prevent it from ending? I would like you to think seriously."



Mamoru Fujimoto, chairman of the Association for Crime Damage Compensation, said, ``In many cases, bereaved families of crime victims are in financial difficulty. I'm talking to

What is the “Crime Victim Benefit” system?

In order to support crime victims, the government has established a "crime victim benefits" system that provides temporary benefits to those who have lost family members due to murder or other incidents, or to those who remain disabled.



Of these, benefits for bereaved families are calculated according to the age of the victim, the income before the incident, and the number of family members who maintained the livelihood of the victim, and the amount ranges from 3.2 million yen to about 30 million yen. There is width.



Under the Basic Act on Crime Victims enacted in 2004, the amount of "crime victim benefit" and the scope of payment have been expanded. and does not compensate for life in the long term.



There is also the issue of the time it takes to receive payments, and some bereaved families of victims have pointed out that ``the financial support is not sufficient.''