A doctor was sentenced Monday to a suspended three-year prison term for causing his girlfriend to miscarry without her consent by drugging her, seeking to end their relationship while he was getting ready to marry another woman.
Presiding Judge Masaki Tamura of the Tokyo District Court said in the ruling that Tatsunosuke Kobayashi, 36, committed a selfish and malicious crime while utilizing his position as a physician whose work is to value human life.
Tamura explained that Kobayashi was given a suspended term because he not only admitted to the charge and apologized but also received social punishment, including being fired in disgrace by his hospital, and because he promised to stop practicing medicine.