crime

Gang of youths arrested over robbery suspected of beating homeless man to death

27 Comments

Police said Saturday that several members of a gang of youths arrested over an attempted robbery in Osaka may be responsible for beating to death a homeless man last month and attacking other homeless men in the area.

According to police, six youths were arrested Thursday for attempted robbery and assault, Fuji TV reported. They are now being questioned over the attacks on several homeless men in the area near Osaka Station.

On Oct 14, Kuniharu Tomimatsu, 67, was found lying in a cardboard box on a sidewalk near Osaka Station. Police said he had been beaten to death. He had also been assaulted the day before but refused to go to a hospital. Police believe the same gang came back and attacked him again the next morning.

Police said a group of attackers carried out at least four assaults on men around Osaka Station in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings in October. The victims, aged between 40 and 90 years old, were all homeless men who were asleep when the attacks commenced.

According to police, some of the six youths under arrest resemble suspects in the assaults, captured on security camera footage.

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27 Comments
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Wow... bashing up homeless...old...and sleeping men in the middle of the night... it just doesn't get lower than that.

12 ( +11 / -1 )

I bet this is another reason why Hashimoto wants Sat schools. But guess what?! School education isn't gonna solve these crazy stunts by youths. Society needs to change. PARENTS need to learn to parent and be responsible for their kids actions. All they do is expect teachers to disclipine at school and juku teachers to discipline after school. Parents don't do diddly!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Rip for Tomimatsu-san. I hope there will be no protests in Osaka against the youths that have no regrets of their actions in these beatings. I wish the best of luck to the Japanese police can track down these spineless individuals involved with these crimes before any other homeless people are violated. The article mentions youths. Is this considered anyone under the age of 21? Or some other age group that is not considered adults? Was there alcohol involved or straight up hate crimes against their own people? Too many questions not answered in this article except for the name of the deceased.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@ martyman

I was thinking of the same thing. If the gang involves minors then arresting them is useless due to the "Juvenile Protection Law", If not let them rot in jail.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

WOW. Why would someone rob a homeless man??

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@titaniumdioxide

Exactly, the age of the criminals makes a big difference almost regardless of the circumstances. Unless they are all deemed to have some type of mental illness.

Either way, spineless is the only word I can think of to describe them. If they are caught, the profiling of these punks may be the typical abusive alcoholic parents that gave them no love as they grew up which led them to a life of being mean and no one to show them right from wrong. Or there parents may have the same personality and they are mimicking the same behavior.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The most deplorable part is that they chose to attack people who are already the lowest rung of society. It's not a crime of revenge or greed or comeuppance. It's simply a crime of wanton violence on the people society will care least about.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

@chooch You would think criminals would be on the lowest rung of society not the homeless. There is a difference between homeless having societal challenges and psychopathic criminals preying on the weak.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

That's Japanese society though - it's okay to prey on the weak because it's their fault for being weak. These kids probably won't get punished severely enough - especially because the victim was the homeless.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

I am sure that making them go to elementary school on Saturdays will stop this kind of behavior. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Make the names of these kid and their parents public! Stop protecting thugs over the age of 16 and treat them as adult. While we're at it, punish the parents for raising such beasts.

RIP Tomimatsu. You didn't deserve this.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Not to worry! Hashimoto will have them back in schools on Saturday and all this delinquency will end!

I seem to recall that Japan changed its laws some time back so that even underage people could be charged as adults in heinous crimes, but so far I've never heard of that ever happening. Why don't they start with this? These kids think it's fun to go out and beat people to death? let them suffer in prison for a while.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

They will all be big and lippy members within the gang, but get when the police get them separately for questioning the wind will go right out of their sails.

Pathetic wimps with no life outside their peers.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Curfew time??

4 ( +5 / -1 )

An inhumane act. Picking on the homeless for what? Are they trying to show that they are strong? Just more mindless big headed Yankees acting like they own everything.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Between 40 and 90? 90? You have got to be kidding. How does one beat a 90 year old man!

How about putting them in the Octagon and get a taste of what it feels like to get your ass kicked by someone bigger and more powerful than them.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

No such thing as parenting in this country, they leave up to the teachers. Drop them off at one year old and then just pay the bills. My sons 4 year old class mate came over the other day to play when asked what he had for breakfast he relied " cold left over french fries from last night". So the wife set about feeding him, she gave him some grapes later that day, first in his life. Guess what, his mother is a police woman.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Wheremytumsforabesan: "Guess what, his mother is a police woman."

No surprise there... although it's a bit surprising his mom hasn't hit someone after an enkai and drove off. Good on you and your wife for feeding the lad some real food. Be careful, though... given the amount of J-cops gone mad reports and mothers going crazy she's kind of a double whammy.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Unfortunately the homeless didn't have one of those box cutter's you can pick up at the 100 yen store to protect himself...maybe he could have severed a few achilles tendons before he passed!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

as say japanese,in the first place.Osaka is dangerous by a certain circumastance,

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Osaka ain't that dangerous

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This happened around Osaka Station, Okaji Masatoshi. Is that a bad area?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think it's time for Japan to start a nation-wide curfew for everyone under 20!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This type of crime is still pretty rare in Japan. Curfew etc weems a little ott, no?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Actually, there is a curfew for minors

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How in the hell can you do something as barbaric as gang beat someone? Such cowards. Hopefully, they will be put in jail and never come out.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Not to open an old story, but what is the punishment for minors that are out after their curfew that commit crimes such as murder or assault? It would seem these spineless murderers would be made an example of to all other Japanese punks committing the same acts against defenseless senior citizens.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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