|
The 22-year-old South Korean sociology student was apprehended
on the spot for allegedly attacking a male student during class
at Hosei University’s Tama campus in Tokyo’s western suburbs on
Friday, causing him minor injuries, according to the Tokyo
metropolitan police.
Japanese media said seven more students suffered minor injuries
as the suspect allegedly hit them in succession. It was not
clear whether her actions were premeditated.
Kyodo News agency reported that the suspect told investigators
she felt “frustrated” after being ignored and bullied by her
classmates and used a hammer she found on campus.
Nearly 150 students were in class that day and one told Kyodo
the attacker seemed to swing the hammer aimlessly, hitting those
seated in the last row in the classroom, and that everyone ran
away. Another said her face was expressionless and she did not
seem to be targeting someone in particular, according to the
agency.
Police said an investigation was still ongoing without providing
further details.
Koreans still sometimes face discrimination in Japan because of
the bitter past between the two countries, stemming from Japan’s
brutal colonization of the Korean Peninsula, which ended in 1945
with Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Serious crime in Japan is rare but random stabbing and shooting
have occurred in recent years.
In December, a junior high school student was stabbed to death
and her friend injured while queuing up at a McDonald’s
restaurant in the southwestern city of Kitakyushu in an alleged
random attack, in which a man was later arrested.
In 2022, three people, including two students on their way to
take entrance exams, were stabbed outside of the University of
Tokyo. A 17-year-old student was arrested and later convicted of
attempted murder.
All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
