27 Yrs Sought for Hokkaido Girl Murder Suspect

Asahikawa, Hokkaido, June 8 (Jiji Press)–Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 27-year prison term for a woman suspected of killing a 17-year-old girl in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido in 2024. With the lay judge trial at Asahikawa District Court set to conclude the same day after the final defense plea, the verdict is expected to be handed down to the 23-year-old defendant, Riko Uchida, on June 22. Public prosecutors have alleged that Uchida and others “applied some physical force” to the high school girl, who had a social media photo trouble with Uchida, so she would fall off a suspension bridge in the city of Asahikawa. Even if the girl was not pushed directly, acts leading to her plunge should amount to murder, they argued. Meanwhile, Uchida has said she neither intended to kill the girl nor directly caused her fall, while admitting that the victim was cornered to the point of death by words and deeds of Uchida and others. According to the indictment, on April 18-19, 2024 Uchida conspired with others, including an already convicted 21-year-old woman, to have the victim sit naked on the bridge’s railing, videoed her apology and killed the girl by forcing her to fall into the river below after shouting “Fall!” and “Just die!” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]