Suspect ‘suggested suicide location to junior high school girl in Japan’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:36 JST, October 19, 2022

A man under arrest on suspicion of helping a junior high school girl from Yokohama commit suicide was found to have suggested to the girl where and how she could kill herself, according to investigative sources.

Yuya Nozaki, 28, of Saitama allegedly searched the internet for places that were known as “suicide spots.”

According to the Kanagawa prefectural police, Nozaki contacted the junior high school girl through social media after reading posts in which she indicated a desire to end her life. On Sept. 20, he met the girl for the first time and let her stay at his home in Saitama and elsewhere.

On Sept. 23, Nozaki took her by car to a bridge nearby Lake Sagami in Sagamihara, and helped her commit suicide, the police said. The girl is believed to have jumped off the bridge into the river. Her body was found on Sept. 29.

According to investigators, Nozaki initially claimed that he let the girl out of the car because he was told it was near her house. However, subsequent investigation has revealed that Nozaki collected information on the internet about places where suicides often occurred.

Nozaki has admitted that he suggested the location and the method for the suicide to the girl, investigators said.

He allegedly said that after the incident, he deleted the social media account he used to contact the girl. Police believe this was an attempt to hide his connection with her.