A court has jailed a 22-year-old Japanese man for killing a Nepalese restaurateur in an unprovoked street attack in which the victim was repeatedly kicked as he lay unconscious on the ground, reports said.
The Osaka District Court on Monday found tattoo artist Hiroki Shiraishi and his female acquaintance Miyoko Shiraishi, 23, guilty of causing the death of 42-year-old immigrant Bishnu Prasad Dhamala last year.
Hiroki Shiraishi was jailed for 19 years, and Miyoko Shiraishi was ordered to serve nine years. It was not known if the two were related.
The duo were heavily drunk before they began what the court said was a random assault on the street.
During the trial, security camera footage showed the Nepalese man collapse to the ground after being hit. His motionless body was then repeatedly kicked, Kyodo News reported.
The agency quoted judge Hidenori Nagai saying the pair "assaulted for fun without any reason a man who did not resist. It should never be condoned".
© (C) 2013. AFP
31 Comments
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tokyobakayaro
Oh please...stop it, if you really know Japan's penal system, if you really know how things usually work in this country, if you really check crime section in newspapers, you would know that prosecutors and judges very rarely require death penalty for only 1 dead.
JapanToday is full of stories of foreigners killing japanese and not being hanged, peruvian who killed one japanese little girl, the US soldier who killed and robbed the taxi driver or the woman killed by a soldier in Yokosuka.
nath
Elbuda MexicanoMar. 12, 2013 - 03:07PM JST
What the hell are you talking about?
He wasn't tried as a minor, he was tried as an adult and the death penalty is never given in Japan for a single murder, no matter the ethnicity of the victim.
Get a grip.
Mocheake
Elbuda, I agree with you about the relatively lenient sentence. To tell you the truth, I actually thought he wouldn't even get that much knowing how some crimes are treated here.
IparryU
WHoa... 19 years? typo or something?
Glad to see that him and the girl both got long terms. Not sure why they didnt get the rope as it was pretty gruesome what they did. But glad to see they are getting long terms!
kimuzukashiiiii
to be honest, in Japan, if someone murders someone (as in a single person) they generally do not receive the death penalty, only a lengthy prison sentence.
House Atreides - And while Nishinari Ku is dangerous, its still probably vastly safer than the majority of "safe" areas in most major world cities. Except Tokyo of course.
There is no reason to suggest that this guy was Yakuza related, just because he is a tattoo artist. The methods used in tattooing a Yakuza (traditionally using bamboo) and modern day tattooist who use guns are completely different. Its like saying everyone who works in construction is a Yakuza too. While there are links between the two, you cant tar them all with the same brush. I would hope that if this was a Yakuza hit, the cops would have already found out about it.
Lowly
19 yrs seems short. I hope there was some other reason besides the victim was a foreigner. I understand the death penalty being used for multiple killings, but surely this should be life? Or close to it? Even if they didn't plan on killing him...
If it happened last yr, why does it say "it is not known if the man and woman w/ same last name were related"??
I don't get it? After a trial, wouldn't we know if they are married, bro and sis, what have you?
smithinjapan
Glad to see it wasn't the usual 5-10 years. Hope they can look back on and reflect on the 'fun' they had during their respective stints.
HonestDictator
I'm shocked that he even got 19 years... while I would have expected more its a lot more reasonable than lets say, 2 years or 4 years. Another thing that sickens me is that Japan doesn't seem to have any effective or reasonable self defense laws. As a foreigner visiting Japan I'm just supposed to stand around and take whatever some fool is dishing out? Seriously? If my life is threatened I'd think I'd want to live to see another day even if it meant going as killing the agitator who was trying to take my life.
Well, at least some justice was served.
rickyvee
actually as i remember it, there were four people involved. i hope the other two also got lengthy jail time.
BurakuminDes
@ Dog - not entirely correct to state that the death sentence is never handed down in Japan for murders of single victims. It seems very rare however, and only it seems when the victim is a pollie and by using a gun...as seen by the assassination of the nagasaki mayor a few years back. Rest in peace to the poor innocent Nepalese man. Lets just hope these evil, violent scum killers have to serve their entire sentences. A little justice for the poor victims family.
Bronco123
Justice not served!
House Atreides
Why am I not surprised this happened in Osaka. Osaka's Abeno Ward is right next to Nishinari Ward, the most dangerous part of Osaka, which in turn is the most dangerous city in Japan. 10% of Nishinari's population is homeless. About a third of the residents there are on welfare. Two yakuza groups, the Sakaume-gumi and the Azuma-gumi, are based in Nishinari. It's not exactly the sort of place anyone, Japanese or foreigner, should be walking alone in the wee hours of the morning.
Tattooing in Japan is associated with the yakuza. It wouldn't surprise me if Hiroki Shiraishi was associated with one of the two yakuza groups operating in the area. This might in fact not be a random attack at all. Mr. Dhamala might have refused to pay "protection" money to the local yakuza. Restaurants, nightclubs and bars are often targeted for shakedowns by organized crime groups.
jamurai
"Fatally assaulting," "causing the death of". Lets call a spade a spade here- they murdered the poor man.
CrazyJoe
In this case, the prosecutors requested 18 years imprisonment for the male and 15 years imprisonment for the female.
Tamarama
Australia could take a big leaf out of Japan's legal book imo, because the legal system there would really only give 3-5 years for the same thing. Defense lawyers and a legal system that is very keen to make excuses and push the rights of the perpetrators makes for an increasingly violent country. These guys got it right.
Chin4Sailor
Wow... I really had a hard time believing they really received these kinds of harsh sentences...?
I keep looking for they key phrase, "Suspended for 2 years." Maybe they left it out of the English version...
I would really be surprised if they got anything more than 5 years, especially since, Drinking Alcohol, (for the Japanese) amounts to a legal excuse for committing just about any kind of crime, here in Japan, of course that logic, does not apply if you are a foreigner.
nath
I often hear a sentence like 20 years to life with possibility of parole with good behavior or life without possibility of parole, etc. in the US. It seems not clear if he might stay in the slammer longer than 19 or will be released after serving his 19 on good behavior. Whatever, he'll still be not too old upon release.
BurakuminDes
@ Probie - you are right. And good riddance to that scum too.
Realistic
All human being's life is precious!
There is a justice served here... sometime.
nishikat
Some people seem to think the sentence was too short? They must be thinking of murder punishments of other countries and comparing? Perhaps the US? One thing to consider is that judges and prosecutors in Japan are not elected officials unlike in the US and perhaps other countries and that may very well have an influence on penalties. If you want to think 19 years is too short it's up to you. But one strong point Japan does have on the justice side is the ability for the prosecution to appeal an acquittal to a higher court. And one thing I have always wondered: How would life without the possibility of parole (i.e. stay in prison until you die, no matter what) work in Japan?
billyshears
Not true. Two of the three people hanged last month in Japan were: Keiki Kano, sentenced for murdering a bar owner; and Kaoru Kobayashi, convicted of abducting and killing a 7-year-old girl.
Fadamor
Seriously, you need to drop this infatuation with the death penalty, or at least read-up a bit on when it is warranted. The defendants were under the influence of alcohol and there was no apparent premeditation. At best, the charge would be 2nd Degree Murder.
Elbuda Mexicano
22 years old, this Japanese bastard was NO MINOR! Fully aged ADULT, needs to HANG!
some14some
too early to conclude...It's very likely that case will go to higher courts....and i won't be surprised if sentence is reduced to 'usual' 3-5 years.
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
I think it might be racially motivated. I'm always scared of these things, young people now a days.... if I was attacked, I need to worry about not killing the kid in one blow.
Probie
@Des
What about one of those creeps they hung a few weeks back. Didn't he only kill 1 little girl?
nath
ProbieMar. 13, 2013 - 09:34AM JST
He had previously been in prison for murder and was released. Then he commited that single murder.
nath
BurakuminDesMar. 13, 2013 - 12:07AM JST
The death sentence was overturned by the Hukuoka High Court to a life sentence. The court said that the death sentence was too harsh for a single murder.
Probie
His previous was for attempted murder.
nath
Extenuating circumstances. the perp was a tattoo artist. victim was Nepalese. 19 years is still along time.