A Japanese pop star is alive but in critical condition after being stabbed some 20 times by an enraged stalker. Mayu Tomita, 20, was attacked by Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27, who reportedly told police he “lost his temper.”
Tomita is a J-pop star who was previously part of a group called Secret Girls. The Japan Times reported that she was arriving to an event around 5 p.m. Saturday when Iwazaki approached her and stabbed her with a folding knife, apparently after asking her about a watch he’d sent in January or February, and which was returned to sender around April.
“I ambushed her at the station and asked her (about the gift),” the Times quotes him telling police. “I lost my temper and stabbed her many times because she didn’t clearly answer.”
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department reportedly said that Tomita had made a complaint earlier this month, saying Iwazaki was stalking her and sending harassing messages via Facebook and Twitter. After Tomita blocked him, Iwazaki seems to have begun harassing an actress who knew her. Again, via the Japan Times:
Since the end of April, the same person sent about 20 messages over 10 days to the actress who performed on the same stage with Tomita, asking her to tell the victim to return all the gifts he had sent.
Tomita sustained wounds to her neck and chest.
In 2014, a man attacked members of another Japanese pop group, AKB48, with a saw. Two members of the group were injured in the attack, which the man reportedly carried out because he was frustrated over failing to find a job. He was sentenced in February 2015 to six years in prison.
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