Police investigating the murder of a 16-year-old girl on a mountain in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, have arrested six other suspects in connection with the crime. On Thursday, police also impounded a minivan belonging to one of the group.
The case came to light last Friday after a 16-year-old girl, accompanied by her mother, turned herself into police, saying she had killed her classmate on Mt Haigamine. The victim had been missing since late June. The next day, police found the missing girl’s body about 20 meters off a path near the summit of Mt Haigamine.
The girl was quoted by police as saying she and her classmate had gone up to the mountain and they had got into an argument after which she killed her companion.
However, police said that several others were implicated in the crime. On Wednesday, they arrested Taihei Seto, 21, as well as five other minors (two boys and three girls), Fuji TV reported. All have initially been charged with abandoning a body, police said, adding that they believe Seto drove the group to the mountain in a minivan.
Further complicating the case is the relationships of the eight people. Though the girl who turned herself in was an ex-classmate of the dead girl, it seems that some of the people involved had never even met before the day of the murder.
One of the boys arrested was in a relationship with the girl who turned herself in, while Seto and one 16-year-old boy lived in neighboring Tottori Prefecture. It seems that of the six people arrested, two of the boys and one of the girls came from Tottori Prefecture to Hiroshima. Seto and the other two 16-year-old girls have been interviewed by the police.
Media have been reporting that the victim owed a sum of 30,000 yen to the girl who turned herself in. Additionally, the alleged murderer had told friends that she felt betrayed by the deceased after she was bad-mouthing her on Line, a popular smartphone messaging app. In response, it was decided that they should “settle” the matter and the group forced the deceased girl into Seto’s van. Initially, they said that an argument started in the vehicle, but now it seems that they actually started punching and kicking her while driving to the mountains. They continued to beat her and then strangled her to death after arriving, it is believed.
Hiroshima police say they are still trying to establish the sequence of events leading up to the girl's death.
© Japan Today
38 Comments
Login to comment
MarkG
Sad to read this. So young and complete lack of empathy.
rys2sense
over about 300 dollars. would kicking her ass be enough was there really a reason to choke her to death?
Magnus Roe
I sort of had the idea there was less drama amongst Japanese young people than some other Asian countries further south that I won't mention. Apparently I was misled.
OrangeXenon54
Wow! More and more is unfolding about this case each day.
papigiulio
This story is getting weirder and weirder.
I saw a picture of the guy last night, what a creep. The most shocking is is that the girl who killed the other girl seems like a cold blooded murder. Quoting: "I pushed her and she fell, then she didnt move and I decided to break her neck" pfffff
Mirai Hayashi
What a swell bunch of kids. Can't imagine how the mother of the murderer felt when her daughter told her that she had murdered someone...ugh! Every parent's nightmare. RIP..
Penfold
Poor kid.
Tamarama
Wow. It's like the plot of a creepy and disturbing Independent film that deals with the grimy side of life.
Except it isn't.
JeanValJean
Lovely bunch of good-for-nothings. Complete lack of basic morals or respect for life.
gogogo
Idiots, so out of touch with reality.
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
These kids need to be caned in public.
Tahoochi
What is wrong with some people?
Bogi
Their parents and our society in general.
nsv
Presently things got messy in Japanese youth. Moral values are taking back seat and young people have no guidance from school and parents.
cl400
Some people involved never met before the day of the murder but still decided to get involved? Why? Why not stop it? Do none of them have any common sense? Too strange.
afanofjapan
ヤンキー
and guessing that the 21yr old is chinpira or bosozoku kei.
Not all of Japan's youth is like this - most are good kids. But the ones with a bad streak, they really go all-out. Even if they hadnt been caught here, no doubt they would have ended up in a life of petty crime and trouble with the law.
gaijinfo
Just imagine how the murdered girl's parents feel!
fidaruzki
shocking! how come they are so heartless
Mirai Hayashi
Although I personally don't condone violence, if you are going to fight someone, don't have your friends gang up the person, or use a weapon. Thats what a coward does. Do it fairly; one on one - mano a mano, and not in the mountains either. At least both parties involved will live.
fidaruzki
well, by killing her ex-classmate, the suspect won't even getting back her 30,000 Yen, right. She is facing jail terms in return for that heinous act
smithinjapan
Charge every single one of them, despite all but one being underage, with murder. Add 'abandoning a body' as an afterthought for a few more years. Enough of nonsense like this; letting it go with only the latter charge, and not charging the minors as adults, which by law can be done with heinous crimes, only sends the message that it's okay to do this kind thing and the consequences not much more than nil.
fidaruzki
That is why in some cases, juvenile needs to be charge like adult, only the sentence should be lesser. I just don't understand how come a person do something like that. It is not a simple matter to take people's life, especially someone you know. So she borrowed money and refused to give it back, so what? It's not the end of the world. But it is now, after she dead and left in the mountains for almost a month.
Scott Johnson
Of course this single case should be held up as an example what is going on with many of today's youth in Japan...or maybe it shouldn't. Come on, what drugs is anybody on to think this case is representative of anything in general?
And in the same vein, is it really necessary to name the app used? Internet, cell phone, virtual or physical message board, something scrawled on a cave wall...what is the essential difference?
cramp
most of them will get off pretty much scott free, thanks to the jp judicial system
tmarie
Smith, not sure why you got thumbs down. Charge them as adults, charge her with murder and start dealing with the growing issue of youth crime.
JanesBlonde
Young people have unfortunately, become more and more desensitised through being able to watch basically "anything" online and this has disconnected many young people from what is normal acceptable behaviour and what they see in movies and online.
But like everything related to children, a lot has to do with their up bringing and parenting. Poor parenting is NOT an excuse, but it certainly does not help in this day and age.
That said, the 21 year old is an adult and needs to be prosecuted accordingly.
Thunderbird2
This is just horrible... it's certainly a premeditated murder, not manslaughter: you don't beat and beat another person to near death if you just wanted to teach them a lesson.
As for this:
I'm assuming that this LINE site will be where they 'met' and agreed to carry out this terrible act?
Qamar
So horrible.. R.I.P 16 year old girl :(
How can people know so much hate at such young age...this is so very sad.
nath
For crimes like this there should be zero tolerance, everyone involved should get life in prison if truly guilty.
HonestDictator
Heartless indeed. I'm thinking a nice long stint in prison and being forever known as a convict for life will set these youths that participated in such evil on a path of lower class scum living the yak life or somewhere else in the underworld. In the US, criminal background checks are the norm for getting a job or a decent place to live. If Japan has such a thing then it would help in homing in on people that committing a crime has lifelong consequences.
gelendestrasse
I'm with the life in prison for the lot. This is just a disgusting crime. I know this lot doesn't represent most of the kids but they've really proven themselves to be beneath contempt. I hope this doesn't turn into a "sincere" apology and a slap on the wrist.
ToshiYori
"The case came to light last Friday after a 16-year-old girl, accompanied by her mother, turned herself into police"
Thumbs up to the mother for making the girl turn herself in to the police. Thumbs down for apparently not instilling enough respect for fellow human beings in the girl.
OldHawk
Ah, so there was someone over 20 involved. I thought that might be the case. The way Japanese laws are set up in regards to minors, I wonder if he'll get more time for driving the van than the girl who committed the murder.
nigelboy
Less, most likely.
Most minors, as in most nations, their punishment is less if done by a legal adult. In Japan, the family court decides whether the minor should be tried in criminal court which depends on the severity of the crime. Of course, the classic case to this is the Hikariboshi double homicide in which a minor got the death sentence.
OldHawk
nigelboy:
Ah, okay. I had forgotten about that case. Thanks for the information.
602miko
and now their conscience disturbing them ! RIP girl !
Scnadal.Lova
This is..... So .. sad! That girl did not have to die just because of owing money. I dont know what else to say. Rip dead girl. You never know who your friends are.
Lowly
Glad to get the follow-up reporting, but the relations between the individuals isn't "complicated" it seems to actually be nonexistent!! We need more follow- up reporting to find out why those ppl were together...
Hate to be a language marm, but line 5 should be,
"turned herself in to police"
as is,
means the girls is a transformer!