Schoolgirl games of frame the pervert turn deadly

For years, female commuters on Tokyo trains have been tormented by malicious molesters who take advantage of the packed conditions to let loose a frisky fondle. Some railway operators have even gone so far as to set up women's only carriages to counter the gruesome gropers. But, as Weekly Playboy (11/20) notes, other crafty female commuters have found a way to make a buck out of being felt up -- sometimes with deadly consequences.

"Nobody seems able to put an end to the practice of women deliberately pushing their bodies against salarymen in crowded trains, accusing them of groping and demanding money not to report the incident to the police," says Masaki Ikegami, a journalist who specializes in train sex attack cases. "Worst of all are the schoolgirls. From the moment a schoolgirl accuses a guy of fondling her, he automatically loses all allies, even among station attendants and the police. It's the same if a case gets before the courts. Now, it's become a matter of common sense to stay away from schoolgirls in trains if you want to avoid being falsely accused of molesting."

Girls admit that a sauced salaryman is an easy target.

"We're always talking about that sort of stuff," Machi, a 19-year-old worker at a mobile phone shop tells Weekly Playboy. "If you ride on the last train of the day, you'll always find a few weak-looking old men drunk out of their minds. We'll go up behind them and guide their arms onto our butts. Then we take an instant photo. After that, we show him the photo and ask him in our sweetest voice for some money, noting that we can always take the photo to the police if he refuses. They're so drunk they can't remember anything and just hand over the money without arguing. A friend of mine did that on the JR Saikyo Line (the most notorious for train gropers) all through the summer."

Weekly Playboy notes that the schoolgirl pranks would be almost laughable but for the fact that they can have fatal results, as the Oct. 26 death of one man on the JR Chuo Line attests. After being accused by a 19-year-old girl of molesting, the 25-year-old man jumped from the platform only to stumble meters down the steep, cliff-like banks of the Kanda River running alongside the tracks and into the water.

"He was rescued an hour later, but his heart had already stopped beating. He died in the hospital the following morning. The official cause of death was listed as drowning. Nothing worked in his favor. The grass along the banks was wet and he fell down an area with an incline of about 90 degrees. Silt had built up in the riverbed, virtually trapping him under the water," a newspaper reporter says.

With the man's death, his guilt will remain a matter of conjecture. But some say his decision to flee should point to the accuracy of his accuser's complaints. Not so, says train sex attack journalist Ikegami.

"No matter what the accused guy says, nobody will believe him and he'll be handed over to the police. There's nothing strange about trying to run away like that guy did. In nearly all cases, as soon as a guy is charged with groping, his company will fire him."

Lawyer Yoshihiro Sato says the growing number of falsely accused salarymen stems from the laziness of law enforcers.

"Police aren't investigating things well enough. It's possible to pick up fingerprints from women's clothes, or even their skin, as well as detect other substances on a man's hands. Yet, the police only ever listen to the women when they look into these cases," Sato says. "There's no way that a defendant denied the opportunity to present conclusive proof of their innocence could possibly win a case that goes to trial."

With the situation facing the falsely accused resembling a kangaroo court, it's little wonder that some people are hopping mad.

"With the police being as forceful and lazy as they are with investigations," journalist Ikegami tells Weekly Playboy, "they basically forced the guy to choose death before dishonor by putting him in the position where his only thoughts were of escape."

[ see in the context ] [ back to the menu ] [ pics & movies ]