The wife and brother of Govinda Prasad Mainali, a Nepalese man serving life in prison for the 1997 robbery-murder of a 39-year-old woman, on Thursday called for his immediate release and demanded a retrial be held to prove his innocence.
It is the first time Mainali's wife, Radha, and elder brother, Indra Prasad, have visited Japan since the results of new DNA tests conducted in late July showed that semen found inside and on the woman was not that of the 44-year-old Nepalese man.
Mainali has been seeking a retrial since 2005.