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

The 54-year-old was arrested on charges of assault and lethal confinement, police in southern Japan´s Nagasaki region told AFP. 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 (38.7 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.