KANAGAWA (TR) – A male student at the University of Tokyo accused of molesting a high school girl inside a train carriage last week had been arrested twice before for the same crime, reports Nippon News Network (Jan. 19).
Over a ten-minute period starting around 5:50 p.m. on January 17, Gaku Miyashita, allegedly probed his fingers inside the underpants of the girl, 18, between Shimokitazawa and Noborito stations on the Odakyu Odawara Line.
Miyashita, who was accused of indecent assault, initially partially denied the allegations. “I only touched outside her pants,” the suspect was quoted by the Tama Police Station. However, he later said, “I came seeking [a person] to molest.”
Just before the train’s arrival at Noborito Station, the girl yelled for help, “Chikan desu” (There’s a molester)!” A 28-year-old male government employee also riding the train then apprehended Miyashita.
When the train stopped at Noborito, Miyashita took off on the platform. However, the male employee grabbed him again about 100 meters away from where he fled.
Miyashita is a fourth-year student at the University of Tokyo. While he was a student, last year and in 2018, police arrested him for the same crime.