Athens  - A former Japanese diplomat to the Vatican and his Greek-born wife will appear before an investigative judge on Tuesday on charges of killing their
37-year-old daughter at their villa on the Greek island of Evia.

Greek police are investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding the woman's death and have taken her parents, former Japanese ambassador Masami Tanida,
77, and his 67-year-old wife, Maria, into custody, believing it is a homicide case.

Their lawyer, Thanassis Tartis told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, that his clients claim the woman, named Amphithea, took her own life and her parents had tried unsuccessfully to save her.

They have 24-hours to prepare their defence and will give evidence on Tuesday which will coincide with the release of the coroner's report.

The couple were arrested Saturday after the woman was found wrapped in sheets in a bathroom in her parents' villa. Investigators said the woman's wrist had been cut after death.

"My clients were trying to avoid scandal with the girl's suicide and for the young girl to not see her mother in such a state so they decided to hide her in the bathroom until they notified doctors," said Tartis.

The incident became known to police in the early hours of Friday, when the woman was reported missing by her husband after he repeatedly tried and failed to contact her.

The woman had apparently taken their three-year-old daughter to visit her parents' villa in the town of Amaranthos on the island of Evia.

A search began for the woman but the case immediately took a different turn when the Greek mother of the missing woman appeared at a local hospital on the island, in Kymi, on Friday morning and asked for the death certificate of her daughter, saying she had died accidentally as a result of a fall down the stairs.

Doctors alerted police who went to the area to investigate the villa where the woman's parents lived but faced an unexpected obstacle because the house was overrun by some 14 dogs.

Police used anaesthetic spray to knock out the dogs and afterwards quickly discovered the body of the missing woman wrapped in a sheet in one of the villa's bathrooms. (dpa)