A 48-year-old man threatened to kill a woman in her 20s if she didn’t do it with a petty knife.

Let’s go away for a while.

This is what the man said to a female acquaintance he saw on the street. The man then verbally lured the woman to a hotel room, where he sexually assaulted her shortly after entering the room.

On July 17, the Shinjuku Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Shingo Kameda, 48, a company employee with an unknown address, on suspicion of sexual assault and indecent assault.

The alleged incident took place on the evening of December 28 last year. Kameda saw Ms. A, whom he knew well, on a street in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo. He asked her to go for a walk with him, and then he lured her to a nearby hotel. According to the police, the subsequent manner of committing the crime was malicious.

Immediately after entering the room, Kameda asked Ms. A to have sexual intercourse with him, but she refused. The suspect, who was upset, allegedly held a petty knife with a blade of about 10 cm in length against Ms. A, threatened to kill her if she did not do it, and sexually assaulted her, causing her injuries. The suspect was a customer at a restaurant where Ms. A used to work. He may have had a liking for Ms. A since that time,” said a reporter from the society section of a national newspaper.

I have no recollection of it at all.

Ms. A immediately called 110 as soon as Kameda left the hotel. When he was sent to the police station on July 17, Kameda got into the convoy in a nonchalant manner. He denied committing the crime, saying “I have no recollection of it at all” when questioned by the police.

Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa commented on the incident.

If he happened to see the victim and committed the crime, he may have been looking for a target in advance. The fact that he threatened to sexually assault her with a knife with a blade of about 10 cm in length that he was carrying gives the impression that he had a plan and was familiar with the situation.

The time of evening must have also been part of the plan. It is rare for women to walk alone in the middle of the night, and if it is evening when they are returning home, they have more time to spare and are more likely to take advantage of the invitation. She may have denied committing the crime, considering that there is little physical evidence of the trouble behind closed doors.”

The police are also investigating Kameda’s other crimes.