The Vietnamese Embassy in Japan is demanding that local police conclude an investigation into the death of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl in Japan as soon as possible.

Tran Huu Tho, first secretary of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, arrived in Abiko, a city in the Japanese prefecture of Chiba, on Monday to work with the municipal police on the alleged murder that has made headlines in both countries.

Vietnamese national Le Thi Nhat Linh, 9, had been missing since Friday and was found dead on Sunday near a drainage ditch in a field in Abiko, according to The Japan Times.

The third-grader was discovered naked by a man who had gone fishing in the nearby Tone River, the Japanese daily cited police as saying. No clothes or any belongings of the victim has been found in the area so far.

Tho demanded that Abiko police speed up their investigation and, if the case is confirmed as murder, find the murderer(s) and prosecute them with the full force of the law.

The Vietnamese diplomat also visited the family of Linh to express his condolences.

Talking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after the visit, Tho said Linh was born in Vietnam to Le Anh H. and Nguyen Thi N., who relocated to Japan four or five years ago so their daughter could start going to preschool.

Linh’s mother, N., returned to her northern hometown of Hai Phong on March 22 but is yet to fly back to Japan as her health does not permit, having been hit so badly by the news of Linh’s death, according to the embassy official.

Linh’s father H. told the Vietnamese Embassy that their daughter had left home for school at 8:00 am on March 24, but the family was notified by her teacher only 40 minutes later that Linh had not showed up for class.

The family immediately reported her missing to Abiko police, and was shocked to be informed that the body of a little girl had been found in the city two days later.

H. came to the Abiko police station on Sunday and confirmed that the victim was their daughter.

The family has been placed under 24/7 security by Abiko police, who said a murder investigation is underway to determine the cause of her death.

The Vietnam News Agency said the Abiko police department had sent a message to the embassy, saying that according to the preliminary autopsy, injuries had been found in the victim’s genital area.

With the family wishing to bury Linh in Vietnam, the embassy is actively working with Japanese authorities to complete the necessary paperwork in order to bring the victim’s body home.

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