Sentence Set for Thurs. in Attack on Japanese in China

Shanghai, Jan. 18 (Jiji Press)--A Chinese district court will hand down Thursday a sentence over a case in which a Japanese woman and her child, and a Chinese woman were attacked by a man in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, last June, people at Japan’s Consulate-General in Shanghai said Saturday.

In the sentencing hearing, attention will likely be paid to how the court will mention the motive of the attacker as well as to the severity of the sentence.

In the June 24, 2024, assault case, the Japanese woman and her child were injured by the man in his 50s with a knife while they were waiting for a Japanese school bus at a bus stop. The Chinese woman who was a guide on the bus was killed in the attack.

Chinese authorities indicted the suspect in November. The first hearing in the man’s trial was held on Jan. 9, with Japanese Consul-General in Shanghai Masaru Okada and others allowed to attend it.

The Chinese side has said that the incident occurred accidentally, and has not mentioned the man’s motive for or background on the attack, including whether he attempted to kill Japanese.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]