Man suspected of drugging, raping 4 women accused in fifth case

May 07, 2021 | News On Japan

May 07, 2021 (tokyoreporter.com) - TOKYO (TR) – A 30-year-old man in custody for allegedly drugging and raping four women has been accused in a fifth case, police have revealed, reports Nippon News Network.

In 2018, Kenshiro Maruta, a former employee at Recruit Communications Co., is alleged to have sexually assaulted the fifth victim, aged in her 20s, at his residence in Shinjuku Ward.

Prior to the incident, Maruta allegedly plied the victim with a sleeping pill mixed into a drink at a restaurant.

Upon his arrest on suspicion of quasi-coerced intercourse, Maruta declined to comment on the allegations, police said.

According to police, Maruta targeted college students looking for a job. On a job-seeking app, he pretended to have graduated from a famous national university.

While dining at restaurants, he then coaxed or forced the victims into consuming drinks with sleeping pills.

“This is medicine that is good for travel sickness,” he reportedly told the victim in 2018 in referring to a sleeping pill.

Police first arrested Maruta last November. He was subsequently accused in three other cases.

An examination of his smartphone of the suspect by police showed him sexually assaulting dozens of women, police said previously.

Police also seized about 700 sleeping pills from the suspect’s residence.

Maruta has already been prosecuted in the first four cases.

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