Mother seeks death penalty in Japan for murder

A Chinese mother whose daughter died after being attacked by a Chinese man in Tokyo, is seeking the death penalty for the suspect, a month before the case will be heard in a Japanese court.

Jiang Qiulian, the mother of Jiang Ge, 24, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the corridor of her Tokyo apartment on Nov 3 last year, said in her micro blog that she went to Japan on Nov 4 with the aim of building public support for the death penalty for the suspect, Chen Shifeng.

Four activities to drum up support were held in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on Saturday and Sunday, while an online petition to collect signatures - set to end on Nov 30 - continues, according to her post on Thursday.

The case will be publicly heard on Dec 11 in Tokyo.

Inoue Aki, an assistant and interpreter for a lawyer who represents the mother, said: "What we are doing now is helping Jiang make contact with Japanese judicial authorities, and we're also looking forward to the trial. I believe more information will be released at the hearing."

Under Japanese law, people can be sentenced to death only if they are found guilty of "very serious" crimes - "but in this case, there was just one death, which may not meet the standard in Japan", Aki said.

In a similar case in the 1990s, a Japanese man was sentenced to death for killing a woman following a petition. "But the accusations at the time were multiple, including rape and robbery," Aki said. China Daily was unable to contact Japanese police on Monday. They said earlier that Chen, 25, was the ex-boyfriend of Jiang's roommate, Liu Xin, a Chinese woman from Qingdao.

Beijing Youth Daily reported in December that the police had confirmed a DNA match to Chen, who was charged with the killing on Dec 14.

According to media reports quoting the victim's mother, the roommate, Liu Xin, moved in with her daughter after breaking up with Chen two months before the killing.

Chen allegedly went to Jiang's apartment to look for Liu on the afternoon of Nov 3. The three quarreled, and left the house. Later, Liu and Jiang went back to the apartment, with Liu arriving first, the mother was quoted as saying.

In a video interview with the Beijing News, Liu claimed that she heard screaming outside the door as she was changing clothes. She tried to open the door, but found it was blocked. Then she called the police.

The mother reportedly blamed Liu, claiming that she had locked Jiang out before the daughter was attacked.

The mother also criticized Liu for avoiding her and refusing to explain the details face-to-face.

As the case has become a hot topic online, many netizens have also questioned Liu's actions in that regard.

Liu said in the video interview she was prohibited by the police from talking to others involved in the case.

Jiang was completing her postgraduate studies in Japan at the time she was attacked, Beijing Youth Daily reported.