MIYAZAKI (TR) – A man formerly held at a police station in Miyazaki Prefecture has filed a lawsuit seeking 1.65 million yen in damages, alleging he was subjected to daily sexual harassment and bullying by male officers.
The prefectural government has has bizarrely defended this behavior by claiming it was an attempt at “communication,” reports Nippon News Network (July 16).
The plaintiff was detained at the Miyazaki Kita Police Station from November 2023 to April of last year.
According to the lawsuit, while inside the station’s detention facility, the man was subjected to daily sexual harassment by a male police officer who routinely touched his buttocks. The plaintiff claims he demanded the officer stop the unwanted touching every time it occurred.
The lawsuit also outlines allegations of petty harassment by a second male officer. During meal times, this officer would allegedly pour tea into the detainee’s cup so sparingly that it was only one-tenth full.
Citing unbearable mental anguish caused by the repeated incidents, the man filed the suit against the Miyazaki Prefectural Government seeking 1.65 million yen in compensation.
However, the prefecture has shown its intent to fight the claims in court. In response to the allegations, the government argued that both the touching of the man’s buttocks and the stingy tea-pouring were actions “intended to facilitate communication, and cannot be recognized as illegal.”
