Does it mean they’ll do anything for money? The vileness of a criminal group that so easily took a person’s life and used high school students as “disposable pawns” is horrifying.
An incident occurred in which a group of boys broke into a private home in the town of Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture, ransacked the premises for valuables, and killed a woman and injured her two sons.
To date, police have arrested four 16-year-old high school students and a married couple in their 20s on suspicion of robbery and murder. The high school students are believed to be the perpetrators of the crime, while the couple is believed to have given orders to the students.
The 69-year-old woman who was killed had more than 20 stab and other wounds. This extremely vicious crime, which took place in broad daylight, has shaken the community.
The couple believed to have given the orders has residence in Yokohama, and all of the high school students have residence in Kanagawa Prefecture.
How did they recruit the students, and why did they target this house? What were the students thinking when they participated in the crime? Did the families not notice anything beforehand?
Police believe the crime was committed by a “tokuryu,” a term referring to anonymous, fluid criminal groups that are connected via social media and constantly changing their members.
This was an especially chilling case in that the crime carried out by recruiting immature young boys was robbery-murder — a crime for which the maximum penalty for adults is death.
Crimes involving tokuryu have been occurring frequently in recent years. The issue came to light in 2023 with an incident in which a group of men — under the direction of a man called “Luffy” and others — broke into a home in Komae, Tokyo, and killed an elderly woman.
While the perpetrators in that case ranged in age from 19 to 52, the four perpetrators in the latest case are 16 years old.
If the average age of perpetrators is indeed getting younger, the situation is serious. Needless to say, those who gave the orders are highly malicious, but the high school students who went along with it also bear significant responsibility.
In the Tochigi case, there had been a series of reports of suspicious vehicles and individuals in the vicinity of the crime scene for a month prior to the incident.
The police reportedly conducted dozens of patrols, including the day before the incident, and even advised the family to install security cameras at their home. Yet, they were unable to prevent the crime.
In past cases involving tokuryu, there were many instances where perpetrators who tried to leave midway were threatened with such words as “We’ll harm your family” and were forced to carry out the crime.
The crime occurred despite the police having strengthened vigilance through patrols in the area. The prior precautions did not serve as a deterrent.
Perhaps more proactive measures were needed, such as providing residents with emergency call devices of the kind typically loaned to those who report stalking.
The National Police Agency should strengthen its investigative framework, including probes into cases in which perpetrators are recruited through channels other than social media.
Investigations must also proceed to determine whether there was anyone directing the arrested couple. - The Yomiuri Shimbun, via The Japan News/ANN
