
Maternal retribution is swift and merciless, chikan learns.
In Japan, chikan (gropers) are most often encountered on trains, where they take advantage of the crowded conditions to obscure what they’re doing and then hop off at the next station for a quick getaway once they’ve been found out. That doesn’t mean chikan incidents only occur on public transportation, though.
Last Friday a 16-year-old high school girl living in Yokohama’s Tsuzuki Ward was the victim of a chikan while out and about in her own neighborhood. The incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m., with the attacker touching her butt while she was standing on the sidewalk.
However, justice was on the way. It turned out that the girl had been waiting for someone: her mom. The incident occurred just as the mother was arriving at the meeting spot she and her daughter had agreed upon, and Mom sprang into action, grabbing the chikan, a 25-year-old man, and physically restraining him until the police arrived and took over.
The man, a medical researcher for the Omihachiman Community Medical Center in Shiga Prefecture, half-way across the country, was arrested and has since admitted to the charges. The incident follows a previous chikan attack in Tsuzuki Ward that took place late on the night of June 11, and in which the chikan was not apprehended. It’s unknown if the same man was behind both attacks, but thanks to the mother’s quick response in defending her daughter, there’s at least one less chikan out on the streets.
Sources: Kanagawa Shimbun via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko, Kiji
Top image: Pakutaso
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