Many people are siding with the perpetrator, saying they’ve been annoyed with hair on public transport too. 

A 51-year-old woman was arrested for suddenly cutting a female passenger’s hair on a local bus in Hokkaido’s capital city of Sapporo last week, saying she became annoyed when the hair touched her face.

The incident occurred on a bus in Nishi Ward on the night of 12 November, with police saying the perpetrator used a pair of brow scissors to snip several dozen strands of hair off the victim’s head from behind.

The victim, a 22-year-old female office worker, was sitting on the front seat of the bus when she noticed some hair from her ponytail had been cut. After realising what must’ve happened, the younger woman stopped the older woman from leaving the bus until police arrived.

According to police, the offender said, “I was mad at her for sitting alone in a two-person seat and fiddling with her smartphone.” After checking footage from the driver’s security camera, the woman could be seen cutting the hair of the woman in front of her, and so was immediately arrested for assault.

During questioning, the offender said she became annoyed by the woman’s hair, which hit her face and made her feel uncomfortable. However, at the time of the incident, there were only about five people on the bus, so the woman could have easily moved to another seat if the hair was bothering her.

While many were critical of the woman’s actions, a surprising number of commenters actually sided with the offender, saying:

“It’s bad manners to take up a two-person seat on your own while fiddling with your smartphone.”
“The female victim should have been a little more considerate.”
“I can totally relate to that feeling of hating other people’s hair on public transport.”
“I’ve had hair hit my face before and wanted to cut it.”
“You should mind your manners on public transport.”

It’s true that people should mind their manners on public transport, but it’s also true that you shouldn’t cut the hair of other passengers, no matter how annoyed they make you.

Because if we start taking matters into our own hands by physically assaulting those who don’t follow transport rules, we’ll all end up like this man on the train who hit a woman’s crossed legs with his newspaper.

Source: Niconico via Jin
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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