HYOGO (TR) – The mother of a 16-year-old girl who starved to death weighing just 20 kilograms after being wrongfully detained by police has filed a 100-million-yen lawsuit against the state and Hyogo Prefecture, reports Jiji Press (June 17).
Filing the suit at the Kobe District Court on Wednesday, the grieving mother blamed her daughter’s fatal decline on the psychological trauma inflicted by Japan’s notorious “hostage justice” system.
“I want them to tell me. Why was my daughter arrested, detained, and left to lose her life?” the mother said through tears at a press conference.
According to the lawsuit, the teen, referred to by the pseudonym “Runa,” was arrested by the Akashi Police Station on June 17 of last year. She was accused of assault after allegedly holding down the jaw of an individual at the disabled welfare facility where she worked.
Runa maintained her innocence from the start, explaining to police that she was merely trying to stop the facility user from biting her. However, during her detention, investigators repeatedly pressured her to confess to the crime.
The intense interrogations took a rapid toll on the girl’s health. On July 3, while still in custody, she vomited and collapsed, prompting an emergency transfer to a hospital. She was released the following day without indictment.
Following her release, Runa was diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which triggered a severe and unrelenting eating disorder. She died from severe malnutrition months later on December 14. At the time of her death, the teenager weighed approximately 20 kilograms.
Following her death, evidence emerged proving that the facility user’s initial accusation was entirely false.
The lawsuit asserts that the “illegal and sloppy investigation,” coupled with the prolonged physical restraint and mental coercion, directly caused the psychiatric conditions that led to Runa’s death.
“We want to appeal to society for reforms within the police and prosecutors’ offices so that this tragedy is never repeated,” her legal representative stated.
Both the Hyogo Prefectural Police and the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office declined to comment on the matter, stating they had not yet received the legal complaint.
