TOKYO (TR) – A 58-year-old housewife accused of stabbing her husband’s long-time mistress told a court here earlier this month that her “mind went blank” after her husband callously announced he was leaving with the other woman, reports the site for weekly tabloid Friday (June 30).
Aiko Kobayashi appeared for her first hearing at the Tokyo District Court on June 18 to face assault charges. Dressed in gray sweatpants and wearing a mask, the tall, long-haired defendant admitted to the contents of the indictment, telling the judge, “There are no mistakes.”
The bloody climax to the 12-year love triangle unfolded at around 9:00 a.m. on April 10 inside a restaurant at the Rihga Royal Hotel Tokyo. Kobayashi and her husband were hosting a dining event when she came face-to-face with the victim with whom her husband had been carrying on a lengthy affair.
According to prosecutors, after paying the bill, Kobayashi asked her husband what they were going to do next. He coldly replied, “It’s obvious I’m going home with [my mistress].”
“My 12 years of endurance just collapsed,” Kobayashi testified, bowing her head in apology before the court. “After that, my mind went blank and it was like the video cut out.”
Kobayashi attacked the mistress with a knife, stabbing her in the back of the head and inflicting injuries that required two weeks to heal. Her husband also sustained minor injuries in the scuffle. Kobayashi was arrested on the spot for attempted murder, though she was ultimately indicted on assault charges.
Adjustment disorder
During the trial, the prosecution revealed a bitter history of harassment leading up to the attack. Kobayashi had previously sued the mistress over the affair. Although the two reached a settlement after the victim submitted a written apology, she allegedly continued to torment Kobayashi with silent phone calls. The ongoing harassment caused Kobayashi to develop an adjustment disorder.
On the day of the incident, a distressed Kobayashi sent a text message to her eldest son reading, “[His mistress] is here. Help.”
Taking the witness stand, the son expressed his regret over not being able to stop his father’s rampant infidelity. However, he noted that since the incident, his father’s behavior has completely changed.
“My father said, ‘It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry to your mother,'” the son testified, adding that his father now comes straight home and has asked the mistress to drop the charges.
“Married for 25 years”
During her own testimony, Kobayashi revealed that her husband visited her in detention and wept. “We have been married for 25 years, and it was the first time he cried for me,” she said. “I believe his words that he will break up with her.”
Despite the husband’s remorse, the victim’s statement read in court showed no forgiveness, with the mistress demanding the “heaviest possible punishment.”
Condemning the attack as “dangerous and relentless,” prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence. The defense argued for a suspended sentence, pointing to the intense mental anguish Kobayashi suffered due to the prolonged affair and harassment.
The court will hand down its ruling on July 1.
