A woman sitting on bed at home. Photo: Shutterstock/SCMP
TOKYO (SCMP): A decision by Japanese authorities to prosecute a 17-year-old girl whose suicide resulted in another woman’s death has ignited controversy and debate over the reasons to target the deceased in the case.
Critics have condemned the move as pointless and a waste of resources, arguing that prosecuting a dead teenager serves no practical purpose.
Legal analysts contend, however, that while the girl would never be held legally accountable for the charge of gross negligence resulting in death, proceeding with the prosecution could assist in any civil claims filed by the woman’s family and potentially deter others from endangering innocent bystanders while attempting to take their own lives.
The incident occurred on August 31 when the unidentified girl from Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, went to an open space on the 12th floor of the NEWoMan shopping complex above Yokohama Station. She scaled a 2.5-metre glass barrier around the public area and leapt from the west side of the building in the afternoon.
She landed on a female pedestrian, 32-year-old Chikako Chiba, who was walking with three friends. The girl was pronounced dead at a local hospital about one hour later, while Chiba died in the same evening, national broadcaster NHK reported.
Yokohama police have referred the case to prosecutors on the grounds that the girl was old enough to understand that her action might cause harm to others and asked that an indictment be recorded.
The decision has been criticised on social media, with a message on the Japan Today website stating, “Prosecuting a dead girl is peak government ridiculousness – bureaucrats so obsessed with following their rigid, outdated rules that they’ve completely lost touch with common sense and human decency.”
Another added: “This is just another way to punish the 17-year-old’s parents and family. It was a terrible accident and, let’s be honest, this makes no sense.”
Shinichi Ishizuka, founder of the Tokyo-based Criminal Justice Future think tank, believed the reasons for the authorities going ahead with the prosecution were twofold.
“If the girl had lived then it would have been straightforward for prosecutors to charge her with negligence resulting in death,” he told This Week in Asia.
“A criminal prosecution is no longer possible but by carrying out a full investigation and bringing these charges, it will make it easier for the family of the [woman] victim to open a civil case for damages,” he said.
The authorities were keen to highlight the legal consequences of someone who chose to die of suicide in a way that endangered other people and perhaps could even deter them from taking such a course of action, Ishizuka said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
