The Yokohama District Court
2ch.net netizens have expressed a mixture of shock and disbelief at the news that an HIV-positive man had broken into the homes of four women in Kanagawa Prefecture, raping and assaulting them.
Violent crime is still relatively rare in Japan, which also has one of the lowest reported HIV rates in the world, making this crime particularly unusual in context.
Comments posted on 2ch.net agree that the man should be punished harshly for his crime, with many netizens argue that he should be given the death penalty since his crimes equate to murder.
From Yomiuri Shimbun:
Unemployed Man Found Guilty Of Assaulting Women Knowing That He Was Infected With HIV
On October 17, the Yokohama District Court (Judge Onizawa Tomonao presiding) handed down a guilty partial judgement to an unemployed man (49) of no fixed abode, accused of breaking and entering and rape, for having broken into unlocked homes and assaulted the women inside.
Although the man knew he was infected with HIV, he committed a series of rapes.
In addition, the man is being prosecuted for rape and bodily injury for having assaulted and injured a woman. The final sentence will be determined in a jury trial where the remaining charges will be heard, to be held at a later date.
According to the partial judgement, between August and November 2012, the man broke into the homes of women in Fujisawa City, Yamato City, and Sagamihara City through open windows and doors. Aside from threatening and assaulting a total of four women in their twenties, then man also stole around 17,600 yen [approx. $165] in cash and underwear from the victims.
The man realised he was infected with HIV around May 2011.
Comments from 2ch.net:
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Did this actually happen in Japan?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
He’s a terrorist.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
This is unbelievable.
It must be attempted murder.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
What a hideous bastard.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
And????? Did they get infected?????
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
So this happened in Japan? This is no laughing matter.
Rape and theft by someone with AIDS…
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Isn’t this a major incident?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Give him capital punishment for broad indiscriminate terror.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
This is the worst pattern.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
I kind of feel that this is no different from serial murder.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
This is the kind of incident that it would be really weird if it wasn’t reported on a large scale.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Why don’t they give his name?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Give him the death penalty. This is a quadruple murder.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Give his real name.
This is terrorism.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Even though the trial is still ongoing they don’t give his real name?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Why haven’t they released his picture and name?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Give the bastard an instant death penalty.
The victims will never be at peace.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Can an AIDS patient go to jail?
I wonder how they would deal with that.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
This is the same as murder, this is an atrocious crime that has robbed others of their futures.
Give him the death penalty.
