OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a man allegedly slashing a 31-year-old female neighbor in her apartment in Osaka City’s Nishi Ward last week, reports TBS News (Sept. 25).
At around 2:55 a.m. on September 20, Shigeto Suga, also 31, entered the fifth-floor apartment, located in the Minamihorie area, through a window on the balcony.
After hearing Suga, the woman awoke. He then slashed her in the left arm with a knife, causing a 10-centimeter-long gash. He also slashed her mother, 61, in the right arm.
Neither victim suffered injuries considered serious, police said previously.
Suga, of no known occupation, lives in a unit on the second floor. Police believe he entered the woman’s residence by navigating the balconies on and between the floors.
Suga, who has been accused of attempted murder, partially denies the allegations. “I did not intend to kill,” the suspect was quoted by police. “The knife was in my possession for protection against injury.”
The woman lives alone. Her mother and aunt were visiting at the time of the incident. The aunt was unharmed, police said previously.
Suga became a person of interest for police after a witness saw him fleeing via the victim’s balcony.
Police are now seeking a motive for the crime.
