A 74-year-old woman in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, was accused of stealing a box of bean curd sushi worth only about 300 yen (approximately HK$15.08) from a supermarket in the middle of this month. She was arrested by the local police and detained for 80 years. After many hours, the police confirmed that the woman was innocent and released her, and the prosecutor’s office determined that she would not be prosecuted.
The woman was accused of stealing a box of tofu skin sushi worth only about 300 yen from a large supermarket in Omihahaman City, Shiga Prefecture on the 13th of this month. Although the woman has always denied it, saying that a friend bought it for her, the police were unable to find the relevant person. It was not until the evening of the 16th that the police confirmed that the woman was innocent and was released after being detained for 82 hours. In court on Monday (23rd), the prosecutor said: “We need to think about the decision to detain an innocent woman, and further efforts need to be carried out in the future to conduct a proper investigation.”
Netizens questioned whether the detention time was too long
A Japanese magazine investigated the cause of the accident and confirmed that the woman was arrested at 11 a.m. on the 13th and was released around 9:30 p.m. on the 16th. Many people on the Internet criticized: “Accidental arrest is sometimes inevitable, but three days of detention is too long, and it is only a box of beancurd sushi.” Some netizens said: “It’s terrible, this was arrested at the scene of theft.” Does it take so long to check the inventory?” Some people also questioned, “As long as you find the acquaintance, you will understand. It takes so long?”
The magazine called the relevant police station and asked the deputy commissioner for information. When asked why he could not check the CCTV for confirmation, the deputy director explained that he could not check before arresting the person concerned. He also said that the person who accused the arrested person of theft was a supermarket guard, so the police believed the guard’s testimony. The police also pointed out that the arrested woman did not state at the scene that she was from an acquaintance, and did not mention it until she made a statement at the police station, so the “acquaintance” could not be found immediately. The woman also didn’t know the name and exact address of this “acquaintance”, so they finally searched the city for a while before confirming it.
Police admit it will take time to find witnesses
However, the police said that they actually checked the CCTV later and confirmed that another man was with the woman in the store. They also saw the man handing items to the woman after shopping, but they did not know exactly what items they were. The store’s membership card is confirmed. However, the police still only contacted the man on the 16th. As for the inventory, the store has conducted a count and confirmed that there are no errors in sales figures and inventory. The police admitted that there is a lag in this regard. The police department stated that it sincerely apologized to the woman who was mistakenly arrested after the incident and would take measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
A Japanese lawyer pointed out that the woman can claim compensation from the Japanese police in accordance with the legal treaty for compensation by the suspect. The woman can receive up to 50,000 yen in compensation, with a daily maximum of 12,500 yen.
The original article was published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/国际/Japanese septuagenarian woman was mistakenly identified as stealing sushi and arrested – innocent and detained for 4 days before being released/447714?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral
Tags: Japanese #70yearold woman mistaken stealing sushi arrested detained days released
