A Woman in Her 20s Killed While Live Streaming in Central Tokyo
Suspect Claims, "I Committed the Crime Because I Couldn't Get Back 2 Million Yen I Lent"
Suspect Appears to Have Located the Victim by Watching Her Live Broadcast
A woman in her 20s who was live streaming in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, was stabbed to death. The suspect claimed that he decided to commit the crime because he lent the victim 2 million yen (approximately 20 million KRW) but did not get it back, yet he insists there was no intent to kill.
According to local media such as NHK and Yahoo Japan on the 11th, around 9:50 a.m. that day, a woman was stabbed to death on Takadanobaba Street in Shinjuku. The victim was popular streamer Mogai Ai (22), active on the Japanese live streaming platform Fuwatchi, and was attacked while broadcasting live. Mogai was transported to the hospital but suffered fatal injuries to her face and neck and ultimately died after 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The suspect is a 42-year-old man living in Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture. He was immediately arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder. At the time, a 13 cm multipurpose knife was used as the weapon, and an additional knife was found in his bag.
A witness working at a nearby construction site said, “I came outside because of the commotion and saw a woman bleeding from her head,” and “The man who appeared to be the suspect was calm and was holding a smartphone close to the fallen woman’s face.” He added, “When the police asked, ‘Who is the culprit?’ the suspect calmly raised his hand and said, ‘It’s me.’”
Another witness working in a nearby building said, “I heard a woman’s scream and looked out the window to see her collapsed,” and “It’s usually a quiet area, so it was shocking.” He said, “The desperate scream of the victim woman still lingers in my ears.” A taxi driver passing by the scene right after the incident said, “He was kicking the woman who was lying down while filming her with a smartphone. (The woman) was covered in blood, lying still and not moving.”
In the police investigation, the suspect admitted to the crime but stated, “I did not intend to kill.” However, the police plan to continue the investigation applying murder charges rather than attempted murder, based on the fact that he focused attacks on specific areas such as the victim’s neck. A police official said, “Since the victim was stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest, it appears the suspect had a strong intent to kill.”
The police suspect that the suspect identified the woman’s location by watching the live broadcast and committed the crime. A police official emphasized, “Real-time live broadcasts carry the risk of easily exposing personal locations,” and “When live streaming, care should be taken to avoid revealing identifiable backgrounds.”
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