Police in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, said Tuesday they have arrested an unemployed 30-year-old man on suspicion of throwing sulfuric acid at women on five occasions.
The arrest came after police released surveillance camera footage of the suspect. Nine people called police, saying they knew the suspect.
Police identified the man as Noriaki Kitamura, a resident of Takasaki. He has denied the charge, police said.
Kitamura is suspected of throwing acid at the women's legs on four occasions last Thursday -- twice at a shop on the second floor of the JR Takasaki Station building and later at a shopping center four kilometers away.
The fifth incident occurred at 6 p.m. Monday night at a convenience store at Takasaki Station. Fuji TV reported that a man threw acid on the leg of a 34-year-old woman who was shopping.
All five women suffered burns to their legs, police said.
Police identified the liquid as sulfuric acid from remnants left at the scene.
Police believe Kitamura was responsible for all the attacks. The surveillance camera footage of the first attack released by police shows a man resembling Kitamura walking up behind the victim.
© Japan Today
28 Comments
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Jeff Quigley
Dunk him in a vat of sulfuric acid once caught.
Mirai Hayashi
It'll be the usual excuse no doubt:
-stress from work / or stress from no work in his case -he was drunk and doesn't remember doing it -no reason, he was just bored and would have done it to anyone.
papigiulio
While its a disgusting act I am relieved for the women that he didn't throw the acid in their face. Damage could be much worse.
Does he want to get caught? He doesn't try to hide his face and there are camera's everywhere. Shouldn't take long now.
Harry_Gatto
Dropping acid on him would be inhuman, better to give him to the ladies' husbands/boyfriends/brothers for an hour or so.
Chop Chop
This is another news of another an unemployed man committing crime. Government should promote voluntary Mantel health check for unemployed peoples. Thanks god, he didn't throw acid onto the face of his victims. He needs professional health.
onagagamo
His reason will be something akin to: "My mom told me to turn off my video games and go to bed, so I became angry towards her and felt stressed."
nandakandamanda
If this is the guy, he is a waste of breath.
Oh, and a liar.
lostrune2
Maybe he didn't like their legs? Or maybe he liked them too much?
ham21
Let's hope this is the right guy. Then let's hope the courts recognize the seriousness of this person's despicable acts and sentences him to the fullest extent possible!
Commodore Shmidlap (Retired)
While I want them to catch the guy who did this and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law I am not looking forward to his crackpot reason for doing such a sick thing.
YongYang
You can just smell the arrogance on him, this misogynistic miscreant. Why do so many men actually believe they are better than women? It's the 21st Century... isn't it? Or is it. Not over large swathes of the planet, no. Time for one thing:
Education.
Well done to the police.
CrazyJoe
What is the point?
Thunderbird2
I wonder if he's one of the basket cases who started out chucking yoghurt or urine at young women/girls?
I hope they lock away the key... hateful excuse for a human being.
harvey pekar
He is the reason there is a death penalty.
careing
He is a waist of breath, and deserves the death penalty, and needs sulfuric acid dropped on him, and he hates women because he can't be one just like they are, so I guess he's &ay!
Tahoochi
I don't know guys, the article says that cameras only caught him walking behind the victim, and only in one of the attacks. Don't they have footage of him doing the act? Don't they have footage of him in the other attacks? If they have footage which shows he was close to another victim in at least two separate attacks, that would be much more conclusive, but if the only footage of him is walking behind a victim in one of the attacks, that does not sound like enough evidence to me... unless the police have something else they're not saying, or the reporting sucks. Sorry for the armchair detective analysis.
nath
These dangerous i chemicals should it e sold at the first place in chemist or relevant shops . So also investigations should be held on where he got it from and how . The women were burnedon the Legs but also could hav done more serious damage had he flung it in the upper part of the body . Fave
Black Sabbath
That is not an eye for and eye. That is the whole body for an eye.
patty cake champion
I looked up "acid attack' on google and saw the vicious and heinous nature of this crime.
Bartholomew Harte
A Hate Crime, akin to what is happening in countries like India & Pakistan. I'll never understand such gruesome behavior -however i could see lobotomy in this criminals future
Serrano
"The surveillance camera footage of the first attack released by police shows a man resembling Kitamura walking up behind the victim."
But is it actually Kitamura or just a man resembling him?
CannondaleCommuter
I certainly hope the police have more than just video of the first attack they released to lead them to believe they got their man. I mean there were 5 attacks, the last one being at a convenience store, yet the article says nothing about the police having other video footage showing him at any of the other locations at the time of the assaults (let alone actually committing the crime) or any other evidence for that matter. I'll reserve my opinion on Kitamura's guilt or innocence until I hear more about the case the police have against him.
arcieres
There is a problem with mental health in many people, its like if something were generating an abnormal amount of frustration and hate in them.
AlexCook
Sometimes I wonder what is the purpose of attacking these women. Is he getting his revenge on them for rejection???? Complete disgraceful at the highest order.
khulifi
He needs Sulfuric Acid eye drop so that he will stop doing that again.
FrancescoB
Considering all the similar excuses we always get from these loons, I was wondering if police interrogation here did not consist of open ended questions?
Perhaps they go down a checklist like at the doctor's office? Perhaps they don't ask "Why did you do it?" Perhaps they ask, "Did you do it because of stress?" "No." "Did you do it because your girlfriend dumped you?" "No." "Did you do it because you were angry at your mother?" "Yes! That's it!"
khulifi
Dropping acid on him would be inhuman, better to give him to the ladies' husbands/boyfriends/brothers for an hour or so.
OK , but what if they cut him into pieces ..