27 Yrs Sought for Hokkaido Girl Murder Suspect

Asahikawa, Hokkaido, June 8 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors on Monday demanded a 27-year prison term for a woman suspected of killing a 17-year-old girl by allegedly causing her to fall from a suspension bridge in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido in 2024.

At the lay judge trial at Asahikawa District Court, the prosecutors slammed the defendant, Riko Uchida, saying that she was the mastermind of the incident and her actions, which "trampled on the dignity of the girl's personality," were "extremely brutal."

The defense emphasized in the final plea that Uchida did not actually kill the girl.

The verdict will be handed down to the 23-year-old defendant on June 22.

The prosecutors alleged that Uchida and at least one other person "applied some physical force" to the high school girl, who had a social media photo problem with Uchida, so she would fall off the suspension bridge in the city of Asahikawa.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]