NARA - A 79-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, on October 31 after allegedly driving approximately 2.2 kilometers with a 56-year-old man clinging to the hood of her car following a dispute in a condominium parking lot.
The woman, an unemployed resident of Kashihara, allegedly drove toward the man shortly after 9 a.m. in the parking lot of her apartment building, where he had positioned himself in front of her vehicle to protest after she struck his car with her door.
According to police, the woman started driving without hesitation despite the man standing directly in her path, causing him to end up on the hood of her vehicle. She then continued along public roads for approximately 2.2 kilometers while the man desperately held on to avoid falling.
The man managed to climb down from the hood when the vehicle stopped at a traffic light. He suffered minor injuries, including a bruise to the little finger of his right hand.
Rather than remaining at the scene, the woman drove away after the man got off her vehicle. He subsequently contacted police and provided details of the incident, including the license plate number he had memorized. Investigators used the information to identify the woman, leading to her arrest.
During questioning, the woman admitted driving with the man on her hood but denied intending to kill him. "I wasn't thinking of killing him. I thought this much would be all right," she reportedly told investigators.
The woman also indicated that she had been in a hurry because the time for a hospital appointment was approaching, suggesting that her determination to reach the hospital may have contributed to her decision to continue driving despite the danger to the man.
Police said the two had never met before the incident. Investigators believe the confrontation began when the woman's car door struck the man's vehicle in the parking lot, an incident commonly referred to in Japan as a "door punch."
The man reportedly stood in front of her car in an attempt to confront her about the damage, but the woman allegedly drove forward without hesitation, forcing him onto the hood.
Although the man escaped with relatively minor injuries, police are treating the incident as attempted murder because of the potentially life-threatening danger posed by driving a considerable distance with someone clinging to the outside of a moving vehicle.
Investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances of the confrontation, including the woman's actions and intentions when she started driving and why she failed to stop while the man remained on the hood.
Source: KTV NEWS
