It seems to be the opposite of underwear theft, and yet it’s still very creepy.

There are crimes of passion, crimes of desperation, crimes of opportunity, and then sometimes there are crimes that just seem to defy all emotion and logic. One such crime occurred in the relatively quiet prefecture of Gifu, in the form of unlawful drying of underwear.

On 12 May, a 61-year-old office worker was returning home from work at around 5 p.m., but received a shock upon looking at his laundry rack. There, next to his own undergarments, hung an undisclosed amount of women’s underwear that he had never seen before.

The man called police and an investigation was launched into the mystery underwear. By checking surveillance camera footage from the surrounding area, the Gifu Prefectural Police were able to learn that at about 8:20 that same morning a man had entered the property and hung the underwear.

The more difficult task was then tracking the suspect afterward and identifying him, but the police eventually managed to do that too, and on 5 June arrested a 66-year-old man living in Yaotsu Town, Gifu Prefecture.

▼ I’m always impressed with what they can do with those cameras

As of this writing, there has been no announcement on whether the suspect admits or denies drying the underwear, but he is said to be cooperating. The authorities are also trying to determine what, if any, relationship exists between the suspect and victim, as well as a possible motive.

They’re certainly not alone either, because netizens are at a complete loss to understand why someone would do such a thing.

“Ah yes, just as a thought, I don’t understand this at all.”
“I wonder if this is a level of perversion beyond my comprehension.”
“I don’t know!”
“It’s a new breed of criminal.”
“Was the underwear his, or did he steal it from somewhere?”
“Maybe it was a setup, like he was trying to frame the guy for stealing underwear.”
“Maybe it was just a little present.”
“I wouldn’t even bother reporting that to the police.”
“I wonder if the victim was married and the other guy wanted to break them up.”
“Even as a joke, I can’t understand it.”

Indeed, there are still too many unknown variables to draw any conclusions from. Whose underwear is it? Is the victim married? Do they even live in the same town?

Hopefully the police can get to the bottom of this so the fine people of Gifu can sleep off a big plate of fried chicken without fear that someone will hang strange laundry in the sanctity of their own homes.

Source: Tokai TV, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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