18 years old Saaya Suzuki murdered by her stalker

An 18-year-old high school student, Saaya Suzuki, was stabbed to death in Mitaka Tokyo hours after she and her parents has reported to the police that she was being stalked and threatened by her ex- boyfriend. Police have found Saya Suzuki dressed in her school uniform lying in front of her home around 5 p.m. Neighbors heard Suzuki scream and found her in her school uniform, bleeding from stab wounds to her neck and stomach. She was taken to hospital where she died a short time later due to loss of blood, police said. Saya Suzuki's ex-boyfriend 21 years old Charles Thomas Ikenaga, 21 has admitted to stabbing Suzuki with a knife. Ikenaga and Suzuki have broken up six months ago. Japanese police apprehended him on a street in Mitaka about 600 meters away from the site. They said he was wearing bloodstained pants.

According to the high school, Saaya Suzuki told the teacher that she was frightened because a male acquaintance has appeared around her home, and he had sent e-mails saying he would kill her or take revenge on her. When Suzuki complained about Ikenaga on Oct. 7, the school’s deputy principal recommended that she report it to the police.

Saaya Suzuki had belonged to an entertainment business company in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, until August this year. According to the company, she wanted to be an actress and belonged to the company since she was a fifth-grade primary school student and appeared in some movies and TV dramas. She was fluent in English and experienced a home stay overseas.

Japan’s anti-stalking law, which was enacted in 2000, has been revised and passed in June to respond to recent high-profile murder cases involving stalkers. The revised and improved law took effect on Thursday and among the revisions, the law now requires the police to explain to a complainant in writing if they choose not to issue a warning to a reported stalker. Also, the law now requires the police to notify a victim if and when a warning to a reported stalker has been issued.

Saaya Suzuki murder scene

The issue of stalking was brought into the spotlight in 2012 when police were criticized for their failure to protect victims who had reported being harassed. In November 2012, a woman living in Kanagawa Prefecture was stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend even though she had reported to the police that he had sent more than 1,000 emails to her cellphone in a two-week period. Reports had found out that the killer learned of her new name and address, ironically and tragically, from the police.

Victim Saaya Suzuki

Ex-boyfriend and alleged murderer
Charles Thomas Ikenaga

In May 2013 a 24-year-old woman in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture was stabbed by a man who had been stalking her, even as the woman had already reported the said stalker to the police and that officers were near the victim’s house when the attack happened.