High court clears police of responsibility in brutal Saitama slaying
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the parents of a murdered university student who sought to have police held responsible for the killing, but upheld a district court ruling that ordered the parents to be paid 5.5 million yen in compensation.
The parents of the 21-year-old victim, Shiori Ino, had demanded 110 million yen in compensation from the Saitama Prefectural Government, which manages the Saitama Prefectural Police, citing the State Redress Law. They claimed that failure by prefectural police to carry out investigations led to Ino's death in 1999.
A ruling on the case in the Saitama District Court in February 2003 found that police had acted illegally by "betraying the trust of residents who expected that police would protect them from criminals." However, the district court added, "It cannot be said that they knew the danger (to Ino's life) was imminent."
The parents appealed against the ruling, which awarded them 5.5 million yen in compensation but relieved police of responsibility, claiming that officers could have done more to prevent the killing.
"They made light of stalking that was tending toward physical harm and the repeated claims from our daughter that she was in danger," Ino's parents said in their claim.
At the time of the killing, a prefectural police chief apologized to the family, saying, "There is a possibility that the murder could have been avoided if the investigation into slander (of the victim) had been carried out." But in the suit, prefectural officials denied that investigations had been put off.
Ino was viciously stabbed to death in broad daylight on the streets of Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, in October 1999, after defamatory posters were put up near her home.
In December 2003, a Tokyo firefighter was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the killing, which was planned after Ino broke up with his younger brother.
Earlier, In July 2001, the Saitama District Court convicted two men -- Yoshifumi Kubota and Yoshitaka Ito -- of carrying out the murder. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, January 26, 2005)
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:03
Young couple starve 'burdensome' 3-year-old daughter to death
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama -- A young man and woman who starved the woman's 3-year-old daughter to death because she was "a hindrance" to their entertainment have been arrested, police said.
Arrested on suspicion of murder were Misa Hanaya, 20, and Yuichi Kiyohara, 23, who was living with Hanaya at the time of her daughter's death.
Investigators accuse the couple of leaving Hanaya's daughter Juri to sleep in the loft of their home in Tokorozawa, giving her hardly any food for several months. She died at about noon on Jan. 22 from malnutrition.
Police said that from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the day of Juri's death, both Hanaya and Kiyohara were playing pachinko. When they came home at about 9 p.m., Hanaya noticed that her daughter was not moving, and called for an ambulance. The girl was later confirmed dead.
At the time of her death, the young girl weighed a mere 6 kilograms -- roughly half the average weight of a 3-year-old girl. Police added that her body was covered in bedsores because they made her sleep on newspapers on the floor.
"I ate normally (with Kiyohara) and did things like go to karaoke," Hanaya was quoted as telling investigators. "We wanted to spend time together, but Juri was a hindrance."
Police said they decided to accuse the couple of murder because Juri said, "I sacrificed Juri and chose a life with Kiyohara instead," and added that the girl was an obstacle. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Jan. 25, 2005)
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:07
School principal accused of groping woman on Tokyo train
2005.01.21
A high school principal accused of groping the buttocks of a woman on a morning commuter train has been arrested, police said.
The 53-year-old principal, Tomio Nigorikawa, was arrested on suspicion of violating a Tokyo Metropolitan ordinance that forbids people from creating a public nuisance. He has denied the allegations.
"I touched the area near her hips when I let go of the hand strap, but I'm not a molester," he was quoted as telling police.
Investigators accuse the principal of Tokyo Metropolitan Sunagawa High School of groping the woman's buttocks as they rode on an express train between Nishikokubunji and Tachikawa Stations on the JR Chuo Line in Tokyo at about 7:45 a.m. on Thursday.
The 21-year-old woman, an office worker from ★★Saitama★★ Prefecture, grabbed his hand and handed him over to station officials.
"I was touched up for about five minutes," the woman was quoted as saying. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Jan. 21, 2005)
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:08
Taxman pays teen girl to fondle her breasts
2005.01.18
★★SAITAMA★★ -- A prefectural taxation official who paid a 14-year-old girl 20,000 yen to fondle her breasts has been arrested, police said.
Police arrested the official, Nobuyuki Morimoto, a member of the Omiya-based prefectural tax office, from Kitamoto, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of violating the law against child prostitution. He has reportedly admitted to the allegations against him.
Investigators said Morimoto paid the third-year junior high school girl 20,000 yen to let him fondle her breasts at a karaoke box in Yokohama's Nishi-ku at about 3 p.m. on Sept. 11 last year. Police said Morimoto, 43, had met the girl at the beginning of that month through a dating site.
Saitama prefectural tax officials expressed regret over the incident following Morimoto's arrest on Monday.
"If this is true, it's very regrettable," a prefectural official said. "We want to confirm the facts and take strict action." (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Jan. 18, 2005)
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:10
Big brother slashes middle-aged man's throat in traffic quibble
2004.12.31
KUMAGAYA, Saitama -- A 45-year-old company executive who slashed a man during an argument over a minor traffic accident was arrested on Friday, police said.
Chikara Hasegawa, an executive of a house repair business from Fukaya, has been accused of attempted murder as the 54-year-old victim sustained injuries to the neck that will require one week to heal.
Shortly before midnight Thursday, the victim's car scraped against a vehicle driven by a younger brother of Hasegawa in Kumagaya.
Then the man and the brother got into an argument, police said.
The brother, 42, called Hasegawa on his mobile phone asking for help.
Hasegawa came to the scene and picked an argument with the man before slashing the victim in the neck, according to police.
Hasegawa admitted to slashing the victim, but denied any murderous intentions. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Dec. 31, 2004)
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:23
SAITAMA! SAITAMA!
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-28 12:25
20,000 YEN LOL
JAPAN MAN CANT GET NO HOOCHIE
Name:
VIPPER2005-01-29 2:02 (sage)
ださいたま！
Name:
VIPPER2005-02-02 8:18
TOKYO — Two teenage boys were found dead Tuesday at an apartment complex in Tokyo's Kita Ward after apparently jumping from the 14-story building in what police suspect was a case of suicide. The two, aged 16 and 17, were second-year students at different high schools in ★★SAITAMA★★ Prefecture, the police said.
They said they found a notebook belonging to the 16-year-old boy which contained a note saying, "tired of study and brass band club." The police are examining the communication logs of their cell phones as their parents said they have no idea how the boys were acquainted. The police also found two pairs of shoes and two bags on the top of the building. (Kyodo News)