Battered women seek stimulus checks

YOKOHAMA, Japan, April 20 (UPI) -- Two women who fled their homes because of domestic violence say they want courts in Japan to prevent their husbands from receiving family stimulus checks.

The stimulus checks, designed to boost the economy, are to be sent to the registered head of a household, the Kyodo news agency reported Monday.

The women, one in Yokohama and one in Kawasaki, said they could not update their residency information and register as heads of their households because they fear their husbands would learn where they live, said Etsuko Saga, one of the lawyers representing the women.

The woman in Yokohama said she left her husband six months ago after he beat her and broke her teeth. A stimulus check for her and her two children would come to $424.

The woman in Kawasaki said she left her husband when she was pregnant. The stimulus check for her and her baby would come to $323.