KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 79-year-old man for allegedly assaulting a male acquaintance in Isehara City who later died, reports TV Asahi (Apr. 4).
On the morning of January 31, Yasuhiro Kawanaka, a resident of Isehara, allegedly used his hands to beat the chest and head of Shigezo Miyazawa, 82, at a gateball field in a park. During the assault, Miyazawa fell over and hit his head on a tree root.
Miyazawa subsequently felt sick at home. He was rushed to a rushed to a hospital where he died nine days after the incident.
Kawanaka, who has been charged with manslaughter, admits to hitting Miyazawa. “But I didn’t think he would die,” the suspect is quoted by police, according to TBS News (Apr. 6).
Prior to the incident, Kawanaka and Miyazawa were among six persons using the gateball field. As to a motive for the crime, eyewitnesses heard the suspect shouting after the victim hid his shovel, used to maintain the field, inside a locker.
