Father of 1999 Stalking Murder Victim Saddened by Fresh Fatal Case

Ageo, Saitama Pref., Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)–Kenichi Ino, the father of a Japanese woman who was murdered in 1999 after becoming a victim of stalking, is saddened by a recent stalking case that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old woman in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. “I’m very shocked,” Ino, 75, said of the case in which Asahi Okazaki was found dead in the Kanagawa city of Kawasaki in April this year. Okazaki had been stalked by her former boyfriend, Hideyuki Shirai, who was indicted for allegedly murdering her and abandoning her body. Okazaki had consulted the Kanagawa prefectural police about her circumstances. But she died without an appropriate police investigation being carried out. Ino said that it is “painful” to see a victim similar to his daughter, Shiori, then a 21-year-old university student, who was stabbed to death in front of a train station in the city of Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, on Oct. 26, 1999. The incident led to the enactment of a law against stalking in 2000. In the Kawasaki case, a police station contacted by Okazaki considered issuing a warning or a restraining order to the suspect based on the law. But it concluded later that the situation calmed down. In a report released earlier this month on its investigation into the case, the Kanagawa prefectural police department said that the initial response was inappropriate and acknowledged organizational problems. Ino criticized the Kanagawa police department, saying, “There was no vertical and horizontal communication.” Officers did not take action with awareness of responsibility, so this was a problem, he said. “I want (police officers) to care for victims with a determination to rescue them.” Noting that the report refers to organizational problems in detail, Ino said, “I want prefectural police departments (across the country) to thoroughly read it and implement necessary measures.” The law against stalking has been revised repeatedly after incidents occurred. Still, Ino said, “Stalking damage would occur no matter how strict the law is.” Given that the proportion of offenders who receive treatment and counseling remains low, Ino said, “Perpetrators must be required to receive counseling before being released into society.” “I want to make sure that the number of stalking consultations is on the decrease,” he said. “There mustn’t be another victim like Shiori.” Ino continues to lecture on stalking damage at prefectural police departments and police academies. In October, he is scheduled to give a lecture at the prefectural police department of Fukui, central Japan, his first since the release of the Kanagawa prefectural police report. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]