Osaka man arrested for raping woman aboard train last year

Police said Sunday they have arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of raping a woman aboard a train last year. Although there were many passengers on board at the time of the crime in August last year, none of them tried to stop it or report it to the train conductor as the suspect, Takamitsu Uezono, made threats to them, police said.

According to investigators, Uezono, a demolition worker from Shiga Prefecture, raped a 21-year-old woman aboard a Thunderbird express train bound for Osaka from Toyama on JR Hokuriku Line on the night of Aug 3 last year.

Uezono sat next to the victim after the train left Fukui, and told her, "Don't raise your voice or I'll kill you."

After making further intimidating remarks such as "If you report me to the police, I'll stalk you," he forcibly took her to a rest room and raped her, the investigators said, adding Uezono has admitted to the allegations.

Uezono had been arrested by the Shiga police on suspicion of raping a woman on a train in another incident.