TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have sent a man to prosecutors over the alleged murder of a homeless woman in Ueno Park in Taito Ward earlier this year, reports TBS News (Mar. 31).
On January 22, the man, a laborer in his 60s, is alleged to have fatally assaulted the woman, aged in her 70s, inside the park.
Early on the following morning, the body of the woman was found bleeding from the head. Her eye area had suffered several wounds, police said previously.
Police identifed the man, a resident of Taito, after an examination of security camera footage taken in the area showed him behaving suspiciously.
Police did not reveal whether the man admits to the allegations. The motive for the crime is under investigation.
The man was not arrested, which is not typical in a such a case. “There is a low risk of flight, which makes detention not necessary,” a spokesperson for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said in explaining the non-arrest.
A previous news report said that the woman arrived in the park about 3 years ago.