Man Served Arrest Warrant for Murder of Girl in Central Japan

June 5, 2018

Niigata- A 23-year-old man who has been held for abandoning and damaging the body of a seven-year-old girl in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan was served a fresh arrest warrant on Monday for allegedly killing her last month.

Haruka Kobayashi is suspected of choking Tamaki Omomo, an elementary school second-grader, to death in the city of Niigata, the capital of the prefecture, on the afternoon of May 7.

Kobayashi has denied the murder allegations, according to the Niigata prefectural police department.

The man was arrested on May 14 on suspicion of abandoning the girl's body on a railway track in the city and letting a train hit the body.

According to the police, the girl left school with friends shortly after 3 p.m. on May 7 and went missing after parting from them for home. She was hit by the train at the Echigo Line track near from her house around 10:30 p.m. on the day.

A judicial autopsy found that she died from choking.

The police did not disclose details of what Kobayashi told investigators after his arrest on Monday, due to possible effects on the probe. Jiji Press