KANAGAWA (TR) – A popular male Keio University student already in custody over the alleged rape of an intoxicated woman is among the suspects in a second case, reports Kyodo News (Nov. 19).
Over a nearly three-hour period early on May 10, Yota Watanabe, a 22-year-old second-year student, and two other students of the university allegedly worked together in forcing the woman, aged in her 20s, to consume large quantities of alcohol inside a karaoke parlor in Shibuya Ward. After she became comatose, they then fondled her lower body in committing acts deemed obscene.
Watanabe, who has been accused of quasi-indecent assault and stealing her bag, denies the allegations. “I do not recall [the matter],” the suspect was quoted by police. Kazuki Koyama, also 22, and the other suspect, aged 19 at the time, partially admit to the allegations, police said.
Police first arrested Watanabe over the alleged sexual assault of another woman, a first-year student at another university, in a stairwell of a multi-tenant building in Yokohama’s Nishi Ward in September.
Upon his arrest last month, the suspect, who was accused of quasi-coerced intercourse, denied the allegations, telling police he was drunk and did not remember the incident.
In 2016, Watanabe appeared in the “Mr. Keio SFC Contest,” an event whose winners are determined via online voting over a three-month period.
