A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for stabbing his girlfriend to death and seriously wounding her daughter at their home in Kochi.
The Kochi District Court, in sentencing Akio Udaka, a 49-year-old architectural worker, said he was angry because the victim, Chieko Koji, 55, had not responded to his marriage proposal.
He stabbed her in the chest and elsewhere June 15 with a pair of bonsai shears, and also attacked her daughter.
Udaka later fled to a nearby forest but was found and arrested four days later.
He admitted to the crime during his trial. Prosecutors had demanded a 16-year sentence.