HOKKAIDO (TR) – Prosecutors have demanded life imprisonment for a 21-year-old woman accused of participating in the gruesome group assault and robbery of a university student, highlighting chilling details of the perpetrators eating ramen with the victim’s money as he lay dying, reports News Post Seven (June 11).
The trial, currently underway at the Sapporo District Court, centers on the October 2024 death of a 20-year-old male university student, identified as “Mr. X.” He was fatally beaten in a park in Ebetsu City by a group of six men and women. The violence was reportedly sparked by relationship troubles between the victim and another defendant, 21-year-old Ama Yagihara.
On June 5, prosecutors sought a life sentence for Haruna Kawamura, 21, who is charged with robbery resulting in death.
During the proceedings, prosecutors painted a disturbing picture of a relentless two-hour assault. According to audio recordings recovered from the incident, the attackers landed over 50 blows in a mere 16-minute window. As the victim continuously begged for his life and apologized, the attackers simply laughed and mocked him.
Unrecognizable face
After the brutal beating, the group stripped the young man naked and abandoned him in freezing 2-degree Celsius temperatures. The victim died from traumatic shock.
A medical examiner, who said the victim lost up to 30 percent of his total blood volume, noted that he would likely have survived if an ambulance had been called immediately. Instead, the attackers stole his ATM card, withdrew his cash and casually went out to eat ramen.
“Her disregard for human life is extreme,” prosecutors stated, rejecting claims that Kawamura was merely bowing to peer pressure. They argued she voluntarily participated in the assault and robbery, inciting the others.
The court also heard heart-wrenching testimony from the victim’s grieving family. The victim’s mother, in a statement read by a lawyer, directly addressed the defendant: “Kawamura! I truly hate you. I will never forgive you for the rest of my life.”
The victim’s sister, reading her statement from behind a partition, broke down in tears as she recalled viewing her brother’s body. His face had been beaten so severely it was unrecognizable.
Her grief quickly turned to fury regarding the attackers’ actions after the assault. “A woman who bought bento boxes and ate ramen with another person’s money. Are you insane?” she stated, noting her brother had worked hard at part-time jobs to save that money. “I want the culprits to die from the bottom of my heart. While the human rights of the living criminals are protected, do the human rights of my dead brother not matter?”
No initial plan for robbery
A lawyer representing the victim’s family argued that given her lack of remorse and the sheer brutality of the crime, the death penalty would be appropriate.
Kawamura’s defense team argued for a lighter sentence of 13 years, claiming there was no initial plan to rob the victim and that Kawamura was too intimidated by another attacker to stop the violence. They also argued her blows were not the direct cause of death.
Throughout the victim impact statements and the prosecution’s demand for a life sentence, Kawamura reportedly stared straight ahead, showing little reaction. In her final statement to the court, she offered a brief apology: “I am truly sorry for causing so much sadness and pain. To the bereaved family, I am truly sorry for taking the life of your loved one.”
Also on trial are two male defendants who were aged 18 and 16 at time of the crime.
Presiding judge Masaki Takasugi is scheduled to hand down the ruling on June 25.
