TOKYO (TR) – A career bureaucrat with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has been accused of molesting a passenger inside a train carriage earlier this month, police have revealed, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (July 9).
At around midnight on July 7, the 42-year-old male bureaucrat, then assigned to a road division, allegedly fondled the body of the passenger inside a carriage of the JR Yamanote Line as the train traveled between Sugamo and Otsuka stations.
Upon the train’s arrival at JR Otsuka Station, the passenger apprehended the bureaucrat, who is believed to have been drunk at the time, police said.
Police later accused him of violating a public nuisance ordinance. “I do not recall [the matter],” the bureaucrat was quoted by police.
After being sent to prosecutors the day after the incident, the bureaucrat was released. On Tuesday, he was assigned to the minister’s secretariat.
“After confirming the facts [in the case], we will deal with the matter strictly,” a representative of MLIT was quoted.
