Three members of Doshisha University's prestigious rugby team were arrested Monday on suspicion of trying to abduct and molest a female student in Kyoto Prefecture in April.

Arrested were Yuki Toyoda, 20, and two 19-year-old youths, according to the police. All are sophomores, but the identities of the two youths were withheld because they are minors.

The suspects denied the allegations and said they were just trying to pick up a girl, the police said.

According to the police, the three students are suspected of ambushing a 20-year-old woman while she was walking home on a street in Kyotanabe at around 12:15 a.m. April 30 and trying to force her into a minivehicle to molest her.

The suspects fled when the woman resisted and screamed, the police said. The woman called the police after the incident and gave them part of the vehicle's license plate number, they said. She also said she did not know any of the suspects.

The vehicle was driven by Toyoda, who borrowed it from another member of the rugby team, the police said.

Doshisha Vice President Nobuhiro Tabata said the university is trying to gather concrete information about the matter and is aware that the police have questioned the students twice on a voluntary basis.