“Come on, hurry up”… The “reason” why the woman who forced the victim to sew her own lips shut with a needle and thread was re-arrested

In stark contrast to her first arrest…

At around 8:30 a.m. on July 26, Masae Sakurai (50) emerged from the Ushiku Police Station of the Ibaraki Prefectural Police with a stern expression. When she was referred to prosecutors on the 7th, she wasn’t wearing a mask and at times gazed listlessly at the press cameras, but on this day, she wore a mask and got into the car while staring straight ahead.

Two days earlier, on July 24, the Ibaraki Prefectural Police re-arrested Suspect Sakurai on charges of coercion. She is suspected of threatening a 42-year-old woman living with her at her home in Koga City by saying, “Come on, hurry up,” and forcing the woman to sew her own upper and lower lips together.

“Please help me”

It was on June 30 that a woman holding a note with those words sought help at a store in Koga City. The woman, whose lips had been sewn together in several places from her upper lip to her lower lip—leaving her lips protruding—had reportedly gone without food or water for a full day.

“Six days later, suspect Sakurai was arrested on charges of assault. Although his case was put on hold on July 24, he was re-arrested on the same day on charges of coercion. Suspect Sakurai denies the charges in both cases.

Suspect Sakurai and the victim met through a mutual acquaintance about 10 years ago, and she began visiting his home in Koga City about five years ago. It appears they began living together around April of last year following a financial transaction, and the victim’s younger sister was also living with them.

“According to the police, there was an agreement between Sakurai and the victim that ‘if there was a problem, they would sew their lips shut.’ Since there were marks where thread had been threaded through parts of her body other than her lips, the police are investigating whether similar acts had occurred in the past,” said a reporter from the social affairs desk of a national newspaper.

At the time of his initial arrest, multiple men and women were reportedly coming and going from Suspect Sakurai’s home, and his mysterious lifestyle became a topic of discussion.

“Could she have been brainwashed?”

“The five people who regularly came and went from the house were Suspect Sakurai, her two sons, the victim, and the victim’s sister. It also appears that other men occasionally visited the house. While there didn’t seem to be any particular neighborhood disputes, a woman believed to be one of the sisters was reportedly seen standing outside the house, locked out in the pouring rain.

Suspect Sakurai reportedly told those around him, ‘I pick up people I meet online and take care of them.’ While some people witnessed her and the sisters working together, there are also rumors that Suspect Sakurai was likely taking nearly all the money they earned.“Prior to the incident, the police apparently received a report suggesting that ‘the woman living with Suspect Sakurai might have been brainwashed,’” said a crime reporter.

Suspect Sakurai’s charges for assault are currently pending. What will happen with the investigation going forward? Seizo Sasaki, a former member of the Saitama Prefectural Police’s First Investigation Division, offers this perspective.

“It is believed that the victim was confined by Suspect Sakurai and subjected to violence; however, she was not physically locked up, but rather mentally controlled, leaving her in a psychological state where she felt she ‘could not escape.’ Since the suspect denies physical confinement, the authorities are likely filing charges for each individual act of abuse the victim suffered in order to prove that she was subjected to daily violence.

Although the assault charges have been placed on hold, this is merely a suspension—it does not mean the charges have been dropped. I believe the intention is to clarify all acts of abuse and then indict him on all charges collectively.”

Details of the “bizarre lifestyle” at Suspect Sakurai’s home are gradually coming to light.

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