'House of horror' stuns Japan as victims identified
Japanese police have identified all nine dismembered bodies found late last month at an apartment in Zama, Kanagawa prefecture, which adjoins Tokyo, the Kyodo News reported on Friday. The victims - eight women and one man - include three high-school girls, with the youngest just 15.
Chilling details of the "house of horror" have stunned the country which enjoys a low crime rate. Takahiro Shiraishi, the apartment's 27-year-old tenant, was arrested on Oct 31 and has confessed to the nine murders between late August to mid-October.
The grisly case has brought to the fore the issue of Japan's suicide rate and the criminal exploitation of suicidal people. A white paper released by the Japanese government in May found suicide now ranks as the primary cause of death for those aged 15 to 39, ahead of accidents and cancer.
Shiraishi was arrested in February for working as a recruiter for an escort service, knowing that women would be forced into prostitution. He was released on bail in March and started opening Twitter accounts to seek women who posted suicidal tweets. One of his accounts had 131 followers and 90"likes".
"I want to spread knowledge about hanging. I want to be of assistance for those who are truly in pain. Please feel free to contact me," Shiraishi tweeted.
According to news reports, Shiraishi told investigators he had told his father that his life was meaningless.
He became acquainted with his eight women victims on Twitter.
Shiraishi told police that when he met the women they wanted him to listen to them. "None of them wanted to die," media reported.
The victims' bodies, including heads, legs and arms, were placed in coolers and storage boxes in Shiraishi's apartment, police said.
The Yomuiri Shimbun newspaper called the killings "one of the most brutal and grotesque cases in the history of (Japanese) crime".
The number of children falling victim to crimes through social networks has been growing in recent years, hitting 1,736 last year.
"Suicide websites", where people look for advice on suicide or find people to die with, were deemed some time ago to be hotbeds of criminal activity, as well as feeding suicidal tendencies.
TBS News reported that it would take the police some time to find Shiraishi's motive.
caihong@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 11/11/2017 page10)
