Japan mourns school slashing

2004-06-02 09:32

Tokyo - Parents, teachers and students shaken by the slashing death of a 12-year-old girl at the hands of an elementary school classmate grieved on Wednesday while police questioned the young student accused of the slaying.

Police were investigating the possibility that the killing stemmed from a dispute the two girls had in an e-mail exchange, Kyodo News service reported. Other media quoted the 11-year-old suspect as saying that the victim had been "rude".

Counselors at Okubo Elementary School, in Sasebo, 980km southwest of Tokyo, consoled traumatised classmates, parents and teachers gathered in a special assembly.

On Tuesday, the killer - who reportedly broke down in horror at the crime and confessed - led Satomi Mitarai to an empty classroom during their lunch hour, slit her neck and arms with a box-cutter, and left her to bleed to death.

The grisly murder appalled Japan, where a dramatic spike in juvenile delinquency and school violence over the past decade has shaken deeply held beliefs that the country is largely immune to the violence of Europe and the United States.

Extremely shocked

"We are still extremely shocked," Junichiro Kamogawa, Sasebo city board of education official, said on Wednesday. "We're worried about how to take care of children who were traumatised by it."

Authorities immediately took the attacker into custody for questioning, and she was expected to be transferred later on Wednesday to juvenile detention while her case goes to family court. Police did not release her name, according to Japanese legal protections for juvenile offenders.

Mitarai's bleeding body was discovered in a third-floor classroom by a teacher who called police. Emergency medical workers said they arrived at the scene to find her lying face down on the floor, unconscious.

The attacker, whom police called "Girl A," had called Mitarai out of their classroom as lunch time was beginning and took her to another room around the corner.

The girls' teacher said she first noticed something was wrong when the two were missing, public broadcaster NHK reported. Shortly after, "Girl A" returned, smeared with blood.

- AP