Suspect in Saitama Girl Killing Claims Abuse as Contributing Factor for Murder
The suspect, Hiroyuki Taniuchi, 25, was quoted as saying that his personality had been distorted by abuse and that he was at the bottom of society.
Category: Crime
Yokohama Couple Files Damages Lawsuit: Police Officers Enter Visually Impaired Person’s Home Without Permission
In the appeal trial of a lawsuit where a visually impaired couple residing in Isogo Ward, Yokohama City, is seeking damages from the prefectural police, alleging that police officers entered their home without permission, the prefectural police have newly asserted that “(even without sight) the movements of police officers can be understood by the sounds of their equipment.”
Body of Dead High School Girl Shows Many Stab Wounds
Stab wounds are concentrated on the upper body of 16 year old Tokyo high school girl, Waka Kato, who was found dead in a house in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, two days ago, police sources said Wednesday. According to the police, an autopsy found that Kato died of hemorrhagic shock on Sunday or so. Many stab wounds and slashes on the back of her upper body, notably above the shoulders, suggest the possibility that she was attacked from behind, people familiar with the autopsy results said.
NHK Party Leader Stabbing, Livestreamer Killing & Mental Health in the Japanese Media [Podcast Episode]
A stabbing and attempted murder of a political party leader; as well as a ‘livestreamer’ being stabbed and killed, leads one to revisit about how crime and narratives about mental illness play out in the Japanese media.
NHK Party Head Tachibana Attacked with Weapon
Takashi Tachibana, leader of controversial political group NHK Party, was attacked with a machete during political activities in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki central government district Friday. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Tachibana, 57, was injured in his head, neck and left ear, but his life was not in danger.
“Blaming Only the Defendant Would Be Too Harsh”: Chiba Father Given Suspended Sentence for Killing Disabled Son [Podcast Episode]
On March 12th, the Chiba District Court delivered a verdict in the trial of a 78-year-old man accused of murdering his younger son, who had a severe intellectual disability, by strangling him in July last year in Chosei Village, Chiba Prefecture. The court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years (the prosecution had sought a five-year prison term). Presiding Judge Ryuta Asaka noted that “the defendant was in a highly pressured situation, and it would be too harsh to place all the blame on him,” justifying the suspended sentence.
“Blaming Only the Defendant Would Be Too Harsh”: Chiba Father Given Suspended Sentence for Killing Intellectually Disabled Son
On the 12th, the Chiba District Court delivered a verdict in the trial of a 78-year-old man accused of murdering his younger son, who had a severe intellectual disability, by strangling him in July last year in Chosei Village, Chiba Prefecture. The court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for five years (the prosecution had sought a five-year prison term). Presiding Judge Ryuta Asaka noted that “the defendant was in a highly pressured situation, and it would be too harsh to place all the blame on him,” justifying the suspended sentence.
Tokyo Doctor Ruled Not Guilty in Remanded Indecency Case
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday found a 49-year-old doctor not guilty of licking a patient’s breast just after he operated on her at a Tokyo hospital in 2016. In the case sent back from the Supreme Court, Presiding Judge Hiroaki Saito upheld a district court ruling acquitting the doctor, Susumu Sekine, of indecent assault performed on an incapable person. “The possibility cannot be denied that the woman hallucinated,” the judge said, dismissing the prosecution’s appeal. Sekine was indicted for allegedly licking the left breast of the patient immediately after she underwent an operation to remove a tumor in her right breast at the hospital May 10, 2016.
Former Niigata NPO employee sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman with a disability [Podcast Episode]
On February 19th, the Niigata District Court handed down a sentence of 14 years in prison to a former employee of an organization, who was charged with crimes including sexually assaulting and injuring a woman with a disability while transporting her in Sanjo City. The court ruled that “he repeatedly committed the crime, taking advantage of the fact that the victim could not resist, which is despicable.”
17-Year-Old Arrested after Another Teen Killed on Tokyo Street
Tokyo police arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of attempted murder after another 17-year-old was stabbed to death on a street in the Japanese capital’s Adachi Ward early Monday 24th February.
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