Latest news with #StalkingPreventionAct
Tokyo Reported
11-05-2025
- Tokyo Reported
Kanagawa cops: Kawasaki man attempted suicide after leaving corpse of girlfriend in residence
KANAGAWA (TR) – Man in custody for allegedly leaving the corpse of his former girlfriend at his residence in Kawasaki City attempted suicide after committing the crime, police said, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (May 9). As previously reported, Hideyuki Shirai allegedly abandoned the body of Asahi Okazaki, 20, inside his residence between December 20 last year and April 30. In the latest development, police have revealed that Shirai attempted to kill himself by inhaling fumes from burning charcoal briquettes in the residence on January 3. After that, he told police officers who arrived at the scene, 'My family suspected me of being involved in the incident, and I thought I had no way out.' He added, 'Things weren't going well with her, so I thought I wanted to die.' Hideyuki Shirai (X) 'Okazaki is not here' Okazaki went missing on December 20, 2024. After that, police questioned Shirai seven times and inspected his home on a voluntary basis three times. According to investigators, Shirai each time said 'Okazaki is not here.' During the searches, investigators had failed to notice the body in a storage space under the floorboards. On the night of April 30, police searched the home again on suspicion of violating the Stalking Prevention Act and found the partially skeletal body in a bag. At the time of the discovery, the whereabouts of Shirai were unknown. Police later learned that he fled to the United States in early April. He arrived at Haneda International Airport on May 3. The suspect initially admitted to the charges, but has stopped speaking about the case since his arrest. That same day, police confirmed that the body found in the residence is that of Okazaki. 'She had exaggerated the story' It was also revealed that the suspect's older brother had contacted the prefectural police in mid-January. He said, 'I think Shirai may have killed Okazaki.' After police arrested Shirai on May 3, they explained the main events of the incident to the press, but did not make details about the attempted suicide and multiple visits to the residence public. Police stated that the reason for this was that 'it would hinder the investigation.' There are also discrepancies between the claims of Okazaki's family and the explanation of the prefectural police. Last September, Okazaki filed a complaint with the police, claiming that Shirai had assaulted her, but withdrew it about a month later. Police said, 'Okazaki said that she had exaggerated the story.' But her father claimed, 'I heard from my daughter that she withdrew the complaint because she was threatened by the suspect.' According to reporting by Shueisha Online, Shirai fled to the U.S. at the urging of his mother, with whom regularly exchanged chat messages. In messages between Shirai and his mother that were obtained by Okasaki's father, the suspect says he wants to go somewhere far away, to which his mother suggests America. 'America would be good, but you don't have a passport yet,' she wrote on February 12. During this ordeal, Isamu Tobimatsu, a former Hyogo Prefectural Police detective, supported the family. 'After that, Shirai actually got a passport and told Okazaki's father in March that he was going to America,' Tobimatsu says. 'Okazaki's father asked the police to stop Shirai from leaving the country on suspicion of stalking or something. But that didn't happen, and Shirai left the country around early April.' On May 9, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police established an investigation team to check their response before and after the incident.
Tokyo Reported
06-05-2025
- Tokyo Reported
Kanagawa cops arrest man for leaving corpse of ex-girlfriend in Kawasaki residence
KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have accused a 27-year-old man of abandoning the body of his former girlfriend inside his residence in Kawasaki City, reports Nippon News Network (May 5). On Monday, police sent Hideyuki Shirai to prosecutors on suspicion of abandoning the body of Asahi Okazaki, 20, inside his residence between December 20 last year and April 30. On the night of April 30, police searched the home of Shirai on suspicion of violating the Stalking Prevention Act. A partially skeletal body was found in a bag. At the time of the discovery, the whereabouts of Shirai were unknown. Police later learned that he fled to the United States in early April. He arrived at Haneda International Airport on May 3. The suspect initially admitted to the charges, but has stopped speaking about the case since his arrest. That same day, police confirmed that the body found in the residence is that of Okazaki. Hideyuki Shirai (X) Stalking Okazaki is also a resident of Kawasaki. She disappeared from her home on the morning of December 20. The glass windows of her home were found to be broken and the door unlocked. Her family reported her missing to two days later. After she went missing, her family asked for information on social media. In January, it was discovered that Okazaki's bicycle was found near the home of the former boyfriend. Between December 9 and 20, Okazaki consulted with police about stalking by Shirai. 'Shirai is hanging around my house,' she said by telephone. However, police did not question Shirai during this time. Asahi Okazaki (X) 'Why did she have to go through this?' According to TV Asahi (May 6), the body of Okazakia was returned to her grandmother's house, where she had been staying until just before she went missing. According to the network, there were signs that the body had been burned. 'I met [my daughter] yesterday, and she was in a terrible state,' her father told the network. 'I have nothing but hatred for the perpetrator. It's not something a normal person would do. She was just killed and then burned. It's the same as being killed twice. I really feel sorry for my daughter. Why did she have to go through this?' Shirai participated in hip-hop. He worked as a scaffolder, but was fired due to frequent absenteeism. He met Okazaki at a bar in Kawasaki with the president of his former employer. The two started dating around April last year. According to his family, they broke up about a month later, when Shirai's stalking began. According to police, Okazaki consulted the nearest Kawasaki Rinko Police Station about domestic violence by Shirai from June onwards. The police repeatedly warned Shirai, but stopped taking action after confirming that the two had reconciled last November. However, a friend tells TV Asahi that Shirai's stalking is believed to have escalated in December when the two broke up again.
Tokyo Reported
06-05-2025
- Tokyo Reported
Corpse found in residence of ex-boyfriend of missing Kawasaki woman
KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have announced the discovery of skeletal remains inside the Kawasaki City residence of a man in his 20s who is the former boyfriend of a woman who went missing last year, reports NHK (May 2). In December, Asahi Okazaki, 20, was reported missing. According to her family, she had consulted with police before going missing about stalking by her former boyfriend, whose whereabouts are unknown. On Wednesday night, police searched the home of the man in Kawasaki Ward on suspicion of violating the Stalking Prevention Act. A partially skeletal body was found in a bag. Due to the stage of decay, the gender and approximate age of the body are unknown, police said. In addition to working to identify the body, police are seeking the whereabouts of the former boyfriend. The case is being treated as abandoning a corpse. Asahi Okazaki Bicycle found Okazaki is also a resident of Kawasaki. She disappeared from her home on the morning of December 20. The glass windows of her home were found to be broken and the door unlocked. Her family reported her missing to two days later. After she went missing, her family asked for information on social media. In January, it was discovered that Okazaki's bicycle was found near the home of the former boyfriend. According to Okazaki's family, the bicycle is believed to have been stolen shortly before she went missing. 'I might be killed' On Thursday night, her family and others gathered at a police station to demand explanations from police officers. According to the family, the former boyfriend's stalking behavior got worse from November 2012, and we had reported him to the police many times.' 'My daughter was stalked by her ex-boyfriend, who would sometimes hang around her home and workplace,' said Tetsuya Okazaki, her father. 'The day before she went missing, she sent messages to her co-workers saying, 'I might be killed.'' Okazaki's 18-year-old brother said, 'I hope that the body found isn't my sister, but in my heart I'm sure it is. It's just sad. I feel like I'm blaming myself for not being able to help her.' He added, 'I'm frustrated that the police have said there was no criminal activity and haven't conducted the investigation we wanted.' A man in his 40s who is a relative of Okazaki, said the family had consulted with police about her being a victim of stalking. They also urged them to search for her after she went missing, according to the Mainichi Shimbun (May 1). 'She was a cheerful and nice girl who often came to our house to play, and she also looked after my children,' he said. 'I had heard her talk about how she was worried about being stalked. Even after she went missing, the police told us they couldn't find her because there was no criminal activity involved. It's really frustrating.' Okazaki consulted a female friend, 19, about troubles with the former boyfriend. 'I heard that she had a fight [at his house], and when she said she was going home, he stripped her of her clothes and made it impossible for her to leave,' the friend recalled. A person involved in the investigation said, 'The police station responds on a case-by-case basis. At this point it doesn't appear that their response was clearly inadequate, but the prefectural police will likely be examining the matter in detail.'
