KYOTO (TR) – Police here have arrested a company employee from Osaka Prefecture accused of groping an 18-year-old woman for nearly an hour on a moving train before fleeing onto the railway tracks, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 19).
Yoshinori Sakurai, a 38-year-old resident of Hirakata City, Osaka, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault. Upon his arrest on Tuesday, he admitted to the allegations, telling investigators, “There is mostly no mistake.”
The incident occurred on the night of March 12 aboard a regional rapid train on the JR Nara Line, traveling from Kyoto to Nara. Between 8:05 p.m. and 8:52 p.m., Sakurai allegedly sat next to the sleeping teenager in a two-seater row and continuously fondled her body.
According to the Kizu Police Station, the victim awoke but was too paralyzed by fear to alert surrounding passengers during the 50-minute ordeal. However, when Sakurai finally disembarked at Kizu Station, the teen chased after him. Grabbing his arm, she shouted to the platform, “This man is a groper!”
In a desperate bid to escape, Sakurai violently shook off the young woman’s grip, jumped off the platform, and fled down the railway tracks. Station personnel immediately dialed police, sparking an investigation that led to his eventual capture.
