Two youths face arrest for extorting money from boy who later killed himself

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 11, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071211p2a00m0na012000c.html

OKAYAMA -- Two youths under arrest for assaulting teenage boys have been hit with fresh arrest warrants for assaulting a high school student and extorting money from him, police said. The victim later committed suicide.

The two -- an 18-year-old construction worker and a 16-year-old high school dropout -- stand accused of inflicting bodily injury and extortion. They admitted to the allegations during questioning.

"We wanted money to play around. We've spent the money at video game arcades," one of them was quoted as telling investigators. The names of the suspects, who live in Okayama, are being withheld under the Juvenile Law.

The suspects persistently assaulted the 16-year-old boy between Nov. 9 and 16, investigators said. They then extorted 20,000 yen from the victim, and burned his body with a lit cigarette on a riverbank in Okayama. The victim suffered serious injuries.

The high school boy killed himself shortly afterwards.

The construction worker is also accused of extorting 40,000 yen from another 16-year-old high school boy, and is suspected of demanding 300,000 from the boy who committed suicide.

The two suspects were earlier arrested over separate assault cases.

（Mainichi Japan） December 11, 2007