Reality of Buraku Discrimination in
History, Situation, Challenge |
The Sayama Case (1963) |
For the kidnap and murder of a high school girl in Saitama prefecture in 1963, the police falsely arrested Mr. Kazuo Ishikawa, a then 24 years old man from a Buraku community. After making repeated blunders in investigating the case, the police arrested Mr. Ishikawa for a separate petty offence with the apparent intent to arrest him for the murder charge. He was forced into making a false confession, and was prosecuted for murder. He was sentenced to death in the first ruling, and then to life imprisonment by the high court. As of 2000, a retrial appeal is being filed. |