Once again stealing from Warren.
Jun. 2nd, 2004 03:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingAn 11-year-old girl led a fellow sixth-grader to an empty classroom during their lunch hour, slit her neck and arms with a box-cutter, and left her to bleed to death.
The grisly murder at an elementary school in southern Japan yesterday sent shockwaves through the local community, leaving many asking how such a tragedy could strike in their midst.
Police identified the victim as Satomi Mitarai, 12.
They said she died of massive blood loss after being slashed in the neck and arms with a retractable knife used to cut paper and boxes.
Just three years ago, lawmakers lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 14 from 16 amid public outrage over the brutal beheading of a 10-year-old boy by a 14-year-old in 1997. Last year's Nagasaki murder led many to wonder whether the line should be lowered again.
Despite the concern, however, violent juvenile crimes remain rare. The 1,986 "heinous crimes" - murder, robbery, arson and rape - committed by minors in 2002 represented just 1.4 per cent of all youth offences, according to the National Police Agency...
The grisly murder at an elementary school in southern Japan yesterday sent shockwaves through the local community, leaving many asking how such a tragedy could strike in their midst.
Police identified the victim as Satomi Mitarai, 12.
They said she died of massive blood loss after being slashed in the neck and arms with a retractable knife used to cut paper and boxes.
Just three years ago, lawmakers lowered the age of criminal responsibility to 14 from 16 amid public outrage over the brutal beheading of a 10-year-old boy by a 14-year-old in 1997. Last year's Nagasaki murder led many to wonder whether the line should be lowered again.
Despite the concern, however, violent juvenile crimes remain rare. The 1,986 "heinous crimes" - murder, robbery, arson and rape - committed by minors in 2002 represented just 1.4 per cent of all youth offences, according to the National Police Agency...