The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan to co-operate with Japanese authorities in investigating the death of nine-year old Lê Thị Nhật Linh and arresting those responsible. — Photo Yomiuri Shimbun

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan to co-operate with Japanese authorities in investigating the death of nine-year old Lê Thị Nhật Linh and arresting those responsible.

According to Japanese police, preliminary autopsy results suggest that Linh was murdered. In a message sent to the embassy, the Abiko Police Department also said injuries were found in the genital area.

Linh, a third grader, was found dead without clothes or belongings in a grassfield near a drainage ditch in Abiko City, the Japanese prefecture of Chiba at 6:45am on Sunday.

Previously, Linh was reported missing last Friday after she left her home in Matsudo City at 8 am and went to her school by herself to attend the term-ending ceremony before her spring break.

The school is said to be just 800 metres from her home. However, the location where Linh’s body was found was about 10 km from the school.

After hearing about the case, the Vietnamese embassy in Japan immediately took follow up action, meeting with Japanese authorities.

During a working session on Monday, representatives from Abiko and Chiba police departments told embassy staff that an investigation is underway. The first Secretary of the Vietnamese embassy in Japan Trần Hữu Thọ requested Japanese police to  strive for swift justice.

The Japanese agencies promised to announce investigation results as soon as possible, and the police said they would try their best to expedite necessary procedures to hand over the girl’s body to the family.

Lê Hào Anh, Linh’s father, came to the Abiko police station and identified the girl as his daughter late on Sunday.

Linh’s mother, Nguyễn Thị Nguyên, was on a trip to Việt Nam with her three-year-old son and returned to Japan yesterday.

Anh said he wanted to take Linh’s body to Việt Nam for the funeral. She had lived in Japan with her parents since she was 3 years old.

A local resident told Vietnam New Agency correspondent in Tokyo: “I am horrified by what’s happened. There has never been such a tragedy here.”

The Vietnamese Embassy in Japan has sent condolences to Linh’s family and said it was ready to provide the family with necessary assistance. — VNS