Indian national arrested in Japan for alleged rape of schoolgirl

TOKYO: Police in Japan’s Shiga prefecture have arrested a 24-year-old Indian man on charges of allegedly raping a teenage high school student in Otsu City last month, according to local media reports.

The incident occurred “between 12:40am and 1:20am on June 21” wherein the unnamed suspect alleged to have strangled and sexually assaulted the girl at a hotel, reported Japanese newspaper Kyoto Shimbun on Tuesday.

During police interrogation, the suspect — a temporary worker who lives in Otsu — denied the allegation, saying: “I did not force her”.

However, the local police said both the suspect and the teenage girl did not know each other.

Before the incident, the Indian male went to the girl, asking her to guide him to the front of the hotel where he forced her into his room and raped her, the police said.

Last month, the United States issued a travel advisory urging its citizens to exercise increased caution when visiting India, citing the growing threat of violent crime specifically rape.

The advisory notes that rape is among the fastest-growing crimes in India, with incidents of sexual assault and violent crime reported at tourist locations and other public areas. Travellers, especially women, are strongly advised not to travel alone.

In May, Japanese police arrested a former taxi driver, a 54-year-old man, on suspicion of drugging and raping a woman passenger, with media reporting there could be dozens more victims.

In this case, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily and Jiji Press reported that police found about 3,000 videos and images of him sexually assaulting around 50 women in his taxi or his home.

Similarly, in another case, two US marines in Japan's Okinawa were reported to be under investigation in April this year for alleged rapes, police said.

"A US marine in his 20s is suspected of raping a Japanese woman at an American military base in March, and is also suspected of injuring another woman," a local Japanese police official told AFP.