A deputy chief warden at Nagoya Prison was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of a male inmate in December 2001 who was allegedly sodomized with an instrument by guards.
The Nagoya District Public Prosecutor's Office arrested Mikio Otomaru, 46, and searched the prison for evidence.
Otomaru allegedly led the assault on the 43-year-old inmate by ordering officers to confine him in a cell between Dec. 8 and 14. The inmate was allegedly restrained and sodomized with an instrument of undisclosed nature.
The inmate, serving a sentence of five years and five months for robbery, suffered serious injuries and died of infection Dec. 15, 2001. According to the prison officers, he had spread feces around his cell and kicked officers.
When the incident came to light in October, the Justice Ministry claimed the inmate died of self-inflicted wounds.
The man was sentenced in 1998 to a term of five years and five months for robbery.
It is the second known inmate death at Nagoya Prison that has resulted from alleged abuse by prison officers.
Six guards at the prison were charged last year with inflicting serious injuries on other inmates in May and September. One of the prisoners died.