The victim’s testimony reveals the “details” of the indecent act of the former Japanese table tennis team member.
A female victim recounted the day of the incident
She said, “I think the defendant is taking advantage of the fact that he is a professional table tennis player and a table tennis instructor, and he thinks that if he uses the words ‘massage’ and ‘stretching’ as part of his table tennis instruction, he will not be charged with a crime of vile sexual assault with no witnesses.”
Ms. A, a woman who was allegedly subjected to indecent acts by Kaii Konishi, 44, a professional table tennis player and former representative of Japan’s national table tennis team, expressed her anger during the trial.
On August 20, 2012, the Warabi Police Station of the Saitama Prefectural Police arrested Konishi on suspicion of indecent assault, and on August 7, he allegedly committed an indecent act against Ms. A, a woman in her 40s who is the mother of a student at the “WEILAI Table Tennis School,” where he coaches. About a month later, on September 30, he was arrested again on suspicion of indecent assault on Ms. B, a woman in her 30s who is also the mother of one of his students, in early June 2007.
WEILAI Table Tennis School” is a table tennis school run by his wife Anzu Konishi, who is also a former Olympic team player for Japan. The prosecutors charged Konishi with indecent assault and quasi-forcible indecency against three persons, including Ms. A, Ms. B, and Ms. C, who was in her teens at the time of the incident.
On June 10, the second trial of Konishi was held at Saitama District Court. At the first trial, Konishi’s defense attorney pleaded not guilty , saying that he had not committed an indecent act, but only a part of a massage. At the second trial, Ms. A was examined as a witness, and a Chinese interpreter translated her testimony for Konishi, which could be heard from behind a screen. In response to the prosecutor’s questions, Ms. A began to talk about the day of the incident.
”He repeatedly pressed his lower body against mine.
‘That day I was at home after dropping my son off at Weilai (table tennis school). Then I received a call on my phone from an unknown number. When I answered the phone, my son answered and said, ‘Mom, can you come to Weilai now? I answered the phone and my son answered and said, “Mom, can you come to Weilai now?
What’s wrong? Before I could finish, Kaiwei Konishi picked up the phone and said, ‘Your son has been slacking recently, so he is going to play a game with another student now. If you tell Anzu-sensei, you will not be able to observe the event in the future.
I didn’t really understand the situation, and I didn’t understand why he would keep it a secret from Anzu-sensei, but I rushed to Wei Lai.
When Mr. A arrived at Weilai, his son was just in the middle of a game. When the game was over, Konishi ordered his son and another student to run.
“Konishi Kaiwei said, ‘Five laps around the usual place. Take your time.’ He ordered them to run and said, ‘Mom, I’m going to play ping-pong with the teacher. He told me, ‘You’d better take off your overcoat,’ and after playing ping-pong for the next two or three minutes, he said, ‘Please come this way,’ and headed for the rest area in the back.”
When Ms. A entered the rest area as Mr. Konishi invited her, the massage began without warning.
The lights were dimmed and a mat was laid out in the room. On the mat, “Can you do this kind of posture?” On my right side, Kaiwei Konishi got down on all fours and began to roll and arch his back. I had some experience playing table tennis and had been coached on posture during our rallies, so I thought he was teaching me an exercise to correct my posture.
I got down on all fours and did the same movement, and suddenly the defendant came behind me, grabbed my waist with both hands, and pressed his lower body against mine. My mind went blank and I was so panicked and confused that I could not move. While I was thinking that I had to change this situation without offending the defendant, the defendant repeatedly pressed his lower body against me.”
After that, Konishi ordered the defendant to lie face down or stand up, touched Ms. A’s body, and persistently pressed his lower body against hers.
There was a ridge in the middle of his pants.
What did the defendant do after that?
Mr. A answered, “After that, what did the defendant do?
I heard the door open. Then he jumped away from my body and went toward the brightly lit entrance.
And the defendant Konishi, who was seen in the brightly lit area, looked very much like he was not simply giving a massage, Ms. A said.
The defendant was wearing a ping-pong uniform with short sleeves and shorts. The middle of the front side of his pants had a bulge.
Ms. A then described the events leading up to her filing a damage report after being sexually assaulted by the defendant Konishi.
“The day after (the victimization), I met with Anzu-sensei and told her that I had been sexually assaulted by Konishi Kaiwei and asked her not to allow Konishi Kaiwei to instruct my son again. However, my son was furious that I had broken my promise to Konishi that ‘it would be a secret to Anzu-sensei,’ and he even told me that ‘practicing with Kaiwei-sensei was more fun.
I knew I could no longer convince my son to keep the damage hidden, so I explained to him, ‘Kai-Wei Sensei did some nasty things to me. ‘ Against my will, the damage was known to my son, and with the encouragement of his mother, who said, ‘It’s a crime, so let’s report it to the police.’
Finally, when asked by the prosecutor, “How do you think about the damage caused this time?” Mr. A stated as follows at the beginning of his speech and continued.
The children who work so hard at table tennis, and their families who support them wholeheartedly. I sincerely hope that these people will be punished severely so that they will never again suffer from sexual violence by the accused.
Ms. A tried her best to answer the questions calmly, but at times her voice became hoarse and angry, and she even burst into tears.
On the other hand, when Ms. A began to testify specifically about the sexual violence, Konishi repeatedly shook his head from side to side with a smile on his face.
Konishi, who is pleading not guilty, wanted to claim that his lower body accidentally hit her during the massage, and the defense attorney asked Ms. A , “Do you think it is natural for Coach Kaiwei, who is your instructor, to make sure that his penis does not hit you, even by accident?” He asked her a question. To this question, Mr. A replied with a puzzled look, “I don ‘ t understand the purpose of the question.
Will Konishi give an explanation that will satisfy those who claim victimization? The future of the trial will be closely watched.
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PHOTO: NAKAHIRARA (1st and 4th pictures), HASUO Shinji (2nd and 3rd pictures)