KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 65-year-old practicing physician on suspicion of defaming a female nurse in her 50s at his clinic in Yokohama City earlier this year, reports Fuji News Network (0ct. 27).
According to investigators, the trouble began long before the alleged smear campaign started in June. The victim had been trying to quit Takeharu Kawamura’s clinic for roughly two years, only to be repeatedly turned away by the suspect, who cited staff shortages as his reason for refusing her resignation.
The nurse, who told reporters she had endured verbal abuse and physical violence from Kawamura, eventually turned to a professional resignation agency to deliver her notice on her behalf.
The move sent the doctor into a rage, police said, and he showed up in person at a separate hospital where the woman had found new work.
His anger did not stop there. Kawamura allegedly fired off a series of faxes to the nurse’s new employer packed with fabricated claims designed to destroy her professional reputation.
Among the lies, police say, were accusations that she had used clinic funds to purchase personal items, that she had threatened to walk out mid-shift unless her hourly rate was raised to 3,000 yen, and that she had administered intravenous drips to staff members without authorization.
Kawamura has remained silent under questioning, police said. The Metropolitan Police Department is now pressing ahead with an investigation into possible additional offenses.
