HYOGO - A 16-year-old girl who repeatedly insisted she was innocent died months after an 18-day detention and interrogation left her suffering from an eating disorder and severe psychological trauma, while other people have come forward alleging troubling investigative practices by the same police station.
The girl, identified as Luna, weighed only about 20 kilograms before her death.
Her mother said Luna had consistently denied the allegations against her. "She kept saying, 'I didn't do it. I didn't do it,'" she said. "I cannot understand why the police were unable to reach the truth."
Luna grew up in a family that operated a support facility for people with disabilities. After graduating from junior high school, she began working there as a staff member and had obtained qualifications allowing her to care for people with severe disabilities.
Her family said she had considered studying to become a certified care worker but preferred gaining practical experience. She had also spoken about eventually taking over from her mother as head of the organization.
The case began in February 2025 during a Valentine's Day event at the facility. Luna intervened when one resident bit another person, but a different resident later reported the incident to municipal authorities as abuse.
Police arrested Luna and a male staff member in June 2025 on suspicion of assault.
During questioning, investigators repeatedly asked Luna whether she had struck a resident on the jaw several times and told her that she had really done it, according to her family.
Luna continued to deny the allegation. Notes she wrote while in detention contained messages including, "I love you, Mom," "I want to see you soon," and "I want to be free."
During the 18 days she was held, Luna developed an eating disorder and her weight fell sharply.
She and the male staff member were eventually released without indictment. Luna was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her physical condition continued to deteriorate after her release. According to her mother, Luna became so weak that she required a wheelchair and struggled to retain food.
Five months after her release, Luna suddenly lost consciousness. Her mother believes the extreme physical strain she suffered may have placed a heavy burden on her heart.
Her mother said Luna had still been talking and eating until the day before she died.
The family has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to hold police and prosecutors responsible and has also filed a criminal complaint.
Other people have since described experiences involving Akashi Police Station that they say raise similar concerns.
Hiroaki Kinoshita, a vocational school instructor who had recently moved from Kyushu to Kobe, was arrested in July 2025 after narcotics mailed from the United States were intercepted at Kansai International Airport.
A suspicious black box resembling a delivery box had appeared outside his home, while a sticker bearing the surname Takahashi had been placed on his mailbox. Kinoshita said he had left both untouched.
He was working on his computer at home when police suddenly arrived, ordered him not to move and began searching the property.
Investigators suspected drugs had been sent to his address. Kinoshita said the name on the parcel shared the same given name, Hiroaki, as his.
Kinoshita denied any involvement. He said investigators warned him about lying, while he became increasingly afraid that drugs could have been planted at his home and that he might be convicted despite having done nothing.
He was detained for 17 days and questioned about matters including his knowledge of drugs and overseas travel. He said the questioning later largely turned into casual conversation.
Kinoshita said he was eventually summoned to another room without warning, shown paperwork indicating his release and told he could leave.
Several weeks later, prosecutors informed him that the case would not proceed because of insufficient evidence. Kinoshita said neither police nor prosecutors acknowledged that he had been mistakenly arrested.
Another case involved a girl who was in the sixth grade when she was questioned at Akashi Police Station in February 2025.
The girl was separated from her mother and questioned alone over an allegation involving inappropriate physical contact with a male classmate.
She said she became so anxious during questioning that she began wondering whether something had happened that she simply could not remember, even though she had no recollection of committing the alleged act.
Investigators were examining an allegation that several girls had touched the boy's genitals.
The girl said she was told to write down what she had done. She explained that while she had no awareness of touching the boy's lower body, she thought she might possibly have made accidental contact.
According to the girl, a female police officer told her that hitting and touching were effectively the same and instructed her to write that she had touched him.
The girl said she believed she had made a hitting or tapping motion as part of play, but the officer repeatedly characterized it as touching.
The questioning continued for about three and a half hours into the evening.
Police also took six photographs of the girl, including images of her face and body, in a manner resembling suspect photographs. National Police Agency guidance prohibits such photography of minors without parental consent.
The girl said she tried not to cry because she felt that crying would mean losing. She later wondered whether suppressing her emotions may have made investigators more suspicious.
Her mother initially doubted her daughter's account, but after the family attended a free legal consultation, she learned that some of the police conduct may have been inappropriate.
The family later came to believe there was an increasing possibility that the alleged inappropriate contact itself had never occurred.
The mother asked police to apologize to the three girls who had been questioned, but said authorities declined to do so.
Scrutiny has also focused on prosecutors involved in Luna's case.
A prosecutor at the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office sought and obtained two extensions of Luna's detention, even though a court had rejected an earlier request, according to the report.
A lawyer representing Luna's mother said investigators appeared to have focused on a single theory while failing to adequately consider other circumstances or evidence.
When the lawyer sought disclosure of the reason Luna had ultimately not been indicted, prosecutors declined to provide details, saying only that various circumstances had been taken into consideration.
Hyogo Prefectural Police declined to comment on details of individual investigations, saying its position regarding Luna's case would be presented in court.
Prosecutors expressed condolences over Luna's death but also declined to comment, saying the matter concerned details of an individual investigation.
After Luna died, her family received a letter from the facility resident who had originally reported the alleged abuse.
The writer admitted exaggerating what had happened and reporting the incident as abuse despite not knowing whether abuse had actually occurred.
"I lied. I am sorry," the letter said, according to the family.
The writer acknowledged that the original report had been false.
Luna's mother said she did not believe the person who made the report was solely responsible, arguing that police had failed to adequately verify the allegation with the many people who had been present at the facility.
Several months later, in June 2026, the family received another letter.
It came from the mother of the elementary school girl who had also been questioned at Akashi Police Station.
The woman wrote that her daughter had watched news coverage of Luna's case and said that being subjected to such questioning for days could make someone feel as though they might die.
The mother said her own daughter had suffered greatly during just three and a half hours of questioning, making it difficult to imagine what Luna and her family had endured during 18 days of detention.
Luna's mother is continuing legal action seeking accountability from police and prosecutors and says she wants the circumstances surrounding her daughter's arrest, detention and death to be fully established.
Source: KTV NEWS
