TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Court last week handed a 32-year-old man a prison term of 11 years and 6 months over the fatal beating of a bar hostess in Minato Ward last year, reports the Mainichi Shimnbun (Nov. 30).
On July 4, 2017, Eijiro Ito, 32, repeatedly kicked Ryona Majima, 19, in the head and other parts of her body inside a club in the Shimbashi area over a 40-minute period on July 4, 2017, according to the ruling.
After suffering an acute subdural hematoma, Majima died in a hospital six days later. That same month, Ito was accused of manslaughter.
During the trial, the defense argued that Ito was “abnormally intoxicated, rendering him unsound” at the time of the incident. However, presiding judge Kazunori Karei ruled on November 30 that the assault “was a manifestation of his natural personality and mind.”
At the time of the incident, Ito managed the club. Meanwhile, Majima was the single mother of a girl who is now 4 years old.
“The victim has a young child,” the judge said in handing down the ruling. “It is natural that her family is seeking a strict punishment.”
After the judge said that he would like Ito to “think about” what he had done, the defendant, according to TV Asahi (Nov. 30), did not change his facial expression. He then simply said, “Yes.”
