Saitama Prefecture was slapped Wednesday with a court order to pay 5.5 million yen in damages to the parents of a college student who was stalked and murdered in 1999 at a train station after police failed to act on her complaint and instead covered it up.
In their 110 million yen damages suit against prefectural authorities, the parents of Shiori Ino, 21, said police did not act on the criminal complaint filed by their daughter and later falsified it. Three officers have been convicted over the falsification.
Although in his ruling presiding Judge Tamio Hirota of the Saitama District Court denied the link between the failure of police to investigate her complaint and Ino's slaying, he ordered the prefecture to pay the compensation because it had "betrayed" her trust.