Vietnamese technical intern arrested over murder-robbery in Japan
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
TOKYO - A Vietnamese technical intern was arrested July 27 for allegedly killing a woman during a robbery at her home in the south-western Japan city of Imari, police said.
Food processing worker Dam Duy Khang, 24, is accused of killing and robbing Ms Maiko Mukumoto, a 40-year-old Japanese language teacher in Saga Prefecture, at her home on July 26. He was sent to prosecutors on July 28.
Ms Mukumoto’s mother, who is in her 70s, suffered injuries to her neck in the attack.
Police seized a blood-covered knife from the suspect’s dormitory near the crime scene in Imari. The man refused to answer questions after his arrest, they said.
The suspect stays with Vietnamese colleagues who are also employed via the foreign trainee system, police said.
“I’m surprised (by his arrest) because he had a serious work ethic and was never absent without permission,” an official of the food processing firm said.
Japan’s technical internship programme is intended to transfer skills to developing countries, but is often criticised as a method to import low-wage labour.
It is unclear whether the suspect and the murdered woman knew each other. Ms Mukumoto’s mother told investigators she had never seen him before.
The suspect entered the victim’s house at around 4.20pm and threatened Ms Mukumoto with a knife. It is alleged he stole 11,000 yen ($95).
Ms Mukumoto’s neck was slashed, and she sustained additional wounds to other parts of her body.
A masked man believed to be the suspect was captured on the home’s doorbell camera.
He rang the intercom and forced his way inside when the older woman opened the door, demanding “money” in Japanese. KYODO NEWS
