OSAKA – Three junior high schoolers have been implicated in the death of a university student who fell from the rooftop of a building while they allegedly tried to rob him in Osaka last month, police said Thursday.
They said a 14-year-old female and a 15-year-old male were arrested on suspicion of robbery resulting in death after the pair allegedly lured the 22-year-old victim to the building on Feb. 12 and made threats before he tried to flee and died.
The third teen, a 14-year-old male who was 13 at the time of the incident and therefore considered not criminally responsible, was referred to a child consultation center as a “juvenile delinquent.”
The two 14-year-olds have admitted to the allegations, but the 15-year-old has denied them. All three are acquainted with each other, the police said.
The female student stated during voluntary questioning prior to her arrest that she had met the victim — Gaku Ota from Shiga Prefecture — on social media in February and intended to take money from him, according to police.
On the day of the incident, the female student led Ota to the rooftop of a seven-story building where the two male students were waiting. As they approached him, he leapt to the roof of a neighboring four-story building, but fell from it while attempting to flee.
The police are analyzing the smartphones of the three suspects after the female teen alluded to also threatening other men she met online.
