Japanese man arrested for attempted rape of drunk Thai woman
A Thai woman took legal action against a Japanese man for attempting to rape her while she was drunk at Royal City Avenue (RCA) in Bangkok in the early hours of Sunday.
The victim and her boyfriend filed a complaint at Makkasan Police Station after the incident occurred at about 4.40am on Sunday, July 28. The couple also obtained footage from multiple CCTV cameras at RCA and shared it with the police and Channel 3.
The victim explained that she was drunk and waiting for her boyfriend to drive her car on the second floor of a car park building. While she was sitting on a bench, the Japanese man approached. He sat next to her and then wrapped his arm around her back.
The victim turned away from him, prompting the man to remove his arm. However, he did not stop his actions and pushed her head on his lap. He was touching her inappropriately but had to stop because other partygoers walked past.
According to the victim and the CCTV footage, the Japanese man carried her to the ground floor of the building and into a taxi. She tried to call her boyfriend but the man grabbed the phone from her.
The Japanese man noticed that she was talking to her boyfriend, so he asked the taxi driver to stop and kicked her out of the car. He left her there and drove away in the taxi.
Intoxication blamed
The victim’s boyfriend told Channel 3 that he was on his way to pick up his girlfriend when she called and told him in a frightened voice that the Japanese man was trying to take her somewhere. He heard his girlfriend and the man struggling for the phone before she told him that she was on RCA Road.
The boyfriend asked his girlfriend to wait for him in her car and lock all the doors for safety. He later arrived at the scene and took her to Makkasan Police Station.
The police swiftly arrested the Japanese suspect, who was later identified as 27 year old Nichimura. The Japanese man initially denied the allegation, claiming he felt sorry that the drunk woman was alone and wanted to take her to a hotel to rest. He insisted he had good intentions.
After further questioning, the Japanese man confessed that he was drunk and unintentionally touched the victim while intoxicated.
The suspect was charged with sexual assault and detaining another person. The man was later granted bail at 50,000 baht but his passport was seized, and he was banned from leaving Thailand pending court prosecution.
