FUKUOKA (TR) – Police in Fukuoka City have arrested three Nepalese nationals in their 20s on suspicion of murdering a 25-year-old female international student by beating her and tossing her from a balcony into a river over a romantic dispute, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Sep. 8).
The suspects include vocational student Sanju Tamang, 28, of Hakata Ward; unemployed Asmita Tamang, 25, of Tosu City, Saga Prefecture; and male international student Prabin Lama, 22, also of Tosu City.
According to the Chuo Police Station, the trio is accused of killing Rajbanshi Laxmi, a Nepalese student, inside her third-floor apartment in Chuo Ward’s Kiyokawa area late on the night of August 18.
Between 11:30 p.m. and 12:15 a.m., the suspects allegedly assaulted Rajbanshi, repeatedly striking her in the head with a cooking pot. They then hurled her off her third-floor balcony into the Naka River, which flows directly in front of the building.
An autopsy revealed the likely cause of death was drowning. Investigators believe Rajbanshi was tossed into the water while teetering on the brink of death following the brutal assault.
Her body was discovered on August 19, floating approximately two kilometers downstream. Multiple blunt-force injuries and cuts were found on her head and body.
Inside the apartment, police discovered bloodstains and signs of a violent struggle. The victim’s smartphone remains missing.
Police suspect a love triangle or romantic dispute is behind the grisly murder, noting that suspect Sanju Tamang had been living with the victim’s boyfriend.
Authorities have not disclosed whether the three suspects have admitted to the allegations.
