TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have discovered a sleeping medication inside the residence of one of two medical professionals in custody for allegedly drugging and raping a woman earlier this year, reports TBS News (Mar. 4).
Upon being accused of quasi-coerced intercourse last week, Masataka Kaneko, a 28-year-old doctor at Showa University Hospital, and Hisaaki Obayashi, a 26-year-old intern at an affiliated hospital, both denied drugging the woman, aged in her 20s, prior to the alleged sexual assault.
However, the same medication detected in her system after the incident was discovered in the residence of Kaneko in Shinagawa Ward during a search, police said.
According to a previous report, the incident took place between 11:00 p.m. on January 18 and 5:30 a.m. the following morning. The suspects allegedly laced a drink consumed by the woman with the sleeping medication at a karaoke parlor in Shinagawa and took her to Kaneko’s nearby residence where they sexually assaulted her while she was passed out.
During questioning, Kaneko said the act was done “with [her] consent.” Meanwhile, Obayashi said he “raped [the woman].”
According to police, the suspects are believed to have obtained the drug through their positions as medical professionals.
On January 19, the woman consulted with police.
