<figure id="attachment_209902" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-209902" style="width: 2751px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1c91638a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2021/10/higaisya.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-209902" class="wp-caption-text">Many women who are victimized cry themselves to sleep for fear of publicity (Photo: Image) (Image: Afro)</figcaption></figure>
 In the past few years, the number of sex crimes involving sleeping pills, known as rape drugs, has been on the rise worldwide. Japan is no exception to this trend.
 One of the most recent cases of rape drug use in Japan was the serial rape case of Kenjiro Maruta (30 years old at the time of his arrest) in 2008.
 He was an employee of Recruit Communications, Inc. and mainly used the alumni matching function of job-hunting apps to call up female students who were job-hunting, saying that he would give them job-hunting guidance.
 Why did the girls respond so easily to these calls?
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 Job-hunting at Corona Damages is not only difficult, but for female students who do not have access to alumni, Maruta, whom they can meet online, must have been the person they wanted to turn to at all costs. She cleverly took advantage of the psychology of the job hunters and lured them out by telling them that their job hunting would be all right if they left the job hunting to her, disguising their hometowns.
 Maruta took these female students to hotels and homes under the pretense of &#8220;job-hunting guidance&#8221; and &#8220;help with assignments. Since the female students were limited in where they could go due to the Corona disaster, they probably went to the designated places, grasping at straws.
 He was kind to them and made them feel at ease. He made them drink cocktails that contained rape drugs. The girls lost their memories after a few sips. Maruta committed sexual crimes against these female students.
 After his arrest, a total of 700 pills of 10 different types of sleeping pills were found in Maruta&#8217;s house. In addition, photos of about 40 female victims were found on his smartphone. They took video and still images of the victims when they were put to sleep.
 As of October this year, the police have arrested Maruta ten times, but it is estimated that the number of women who have actually been victimized is far greater.
 During the police interrogation, Maruta reportedly stated.
 &#8220;I won&#8217;t say whether I admit it or not. I feel very sorry that I neglected the woman.
 I would like to think about sex crimes involving rape drugs from the perspective of Maruta&#8217;s case.
<h2> Reasons for the low number of recognized cases</h2>
 First of all, as is well known, this type of crime is rarely exposed to the public. Although I mentioned at the beginning of this article that the number of cases is increasing, only 15 cases were recognized in 2011, and even though the number has been increasing in recent years, the number of cases recognized in 2008 was only 60.
 It is true that the number is increasing, but in the U.K., which has a much smaller population than Japan, there are about 500 similar incidents per year. Considering this, we should assume that there are quite a few cases that are being buried in Japan.
 The reason for this is the high hurdle for women to appeal to the police.
 It is unbearable to rush to the police immediately after being sexually assaulted, to be asked many questions, and to be subjected to various tests. In addition, if the police officer asks you why you went along with the man, you will feel like you are being blamed and will be emotionally scarred.
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 Another thing to consider is the fear that women have.
 In many cases of this kind, men hold the personal information of women. In addition, in crimes involving the use of rape drugs, sexual acts are sometimes captured on video or other media. This is evident from the fact that Maruta was in possession of images of as many as 40 people.
 Why do perpetrators take images? A prisoner involved in a correctional program for sex crimes said, &#8220;Perpetrators take pictures.
 &#8220;There are two main reasons why perpetrators do it. The first is that the nude images can be used to keep their mouths shut. Secondly, many sex offenders have a growing desire to dominate women as a reaction to being repressed by their mothers and women when they were young. They have a strong desire to dominate them and play with them as they please. So not only do they want to put them to sleep and commit crimes, but they also want to get the images and continue to dominate them.
 In addition, they sometimes upload incriminating videos to adult websites and exchange images with other similar perpetrators. By doing so, they are trying to boost their warped self-esteem, thinking that they have done something great.
 The problem is that there is no proper crackdown on such videos.
 I once covered the first case of revenge porn in Japan, and the police admitted that it was impossible to completely erase such videos from the Internet. The police admitted that it is impossible to completely erase such videos from the Internet. It is very difficult to access the operators of overseas sites and have them removed.
 However, with so many incidents of rape drug and revenge porn, it is not a problem that can be left as &#8220;impossible&#8221;. Why should the police&#8217;s word &#8220;impossible&#8221; make so many victims cry themselves to sleep?
 Isn&#8217;t there something more that can be done, such as imposing restrictions on major websites, or properly examining the leaked images to find the perpetrators? Even if it is not perfect, it is better to reduce the number of victims than not to do so.
<h2> 700 pills of 10 different kinds in his possession.</h2>
 A further factor that contributes to the crime is the ease and cheapness with which rape drugs can be bought and sold, as evidenced by the fact that Maruta, a 30-year-old company employee, owned 700 pills of 10 different kinds.
 The crime involves the use of sleeping pills that are so powerful that they can render the drinker unconscious for hours. It is not the kind of drug that can be easily prescribed even in a hospital, but it is widely sold privately on the Internet.
 I once interviewed a dealer in his twenties who told me not only how effective the drugs were, but also where and how to use them to commit the crimes I wanted. It was like a social club.
 The perpetrators felt little guilt about selling and buying rape drugs. However, they are just as bad as methamphetamine and other illegal drugs in tearing apart the lives of their victims.
 Nevertheless, the police do not crack down that hard on this kind of deal. If the police were to crack down as hard as they do on illegal drugs, or at least prevent them from being easily traded online, the number of victims could be reduced.
 The same can be said for the companies.
 Some pharmaceutical companies, when it was pointed out that their drugs were being used as rape drugs, put a blue color on their drugs. When you put it in water, it turns blue. They thought that would make people aware that their drinks were laced with drugs.
<h2> Destroying Women&#8217;s Hearts</h2>
 However, if the base drink is well chosen or mixed with food, it may not work as a warning. In fact, one of Maruta&#8217;s female victims testified that when she woke up in the morning, she was naked and her tongue was stained blue. There is a high possibility that this &#8220;blue&#8221; is due to the medication.
 Still, this kind of ingenuity in medication may have a certain deterrent effect on crime. The problem is that only a handful of pharmaceutical companies are making such efforts. Many sleeping pills do not have such devices. In other words, there are companies that know that sleeping pills are being used as rape drugs, but they are not doing anything about it.
 Sex crimes involving sleeping pills have been going on for decades. We have been told for a long time that it is just the tip of the iceberg and that there is a huge number of victims in society.
 But why is this crime increasing?
 I think it is because the police, companies, and society have been neglecting this problem for a long time. That&#8217;s why they have allowed the crime to increase more and more as private sales over the Internet spread.
 It is known that many women who are victims of sexual crimes suffer from some kind of aftereffects, including PTSD. Some of them are even unable to survive, let alone reintegrate into society. One of Maruta&#8217;s female victims also testified that she was suffering from physical and mental abnormalities.
 Soul murder.
 Sex crimes are called &#8220;soul murder&#8221; because they destroy the victims from the inside out.
 In October, the state of emergency was lifted. With the lifting of the state of emergency in October, there will undoubtedly be more opportunities for people to drink outside. Now is the time for society as a whole to think about how to stop sex crimes like the one committed by Maruta.

 Afro

 Born in Tokyo in 1977. Nonfiction writer. Graduated from Nihon University College of Art. He is active in reporting and writing about culture, history, and medicine in Japan and abroad. His books include "The House of 'Demons': Parents Who Kill Their Own Children," "Forty-three Killing Intentions: The Depths of the Kawasaki Jr. 1 Boys' Murder Case," "Rental Child," "Kinship Murder," and "Social Map of Disparity and Division.

 Kota Ishii

 Last year, an employee of a famous company was arrested for raping 40 female students who were looking for a job. The drug he used to commit the crime was a rape drug. In Japan, crimes involving this drug do not come to the surface. Non-fiction writer Kota Ishii looks into the background and special circumstances.

Rape of 40 people during job hunting… A special situation where rape drug cases do not come to the surface

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