KOBE – A 43-year-old unemployed woman from Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, has been charged with indecent assault on a 15-year-old boy after confining him in her apartment and ordering six teenagers to abuse him, prosecutors said.

Tamae Okino was arrested together with the six boys and girls ranging in age from 14 to 18 on suspicion of confinement and sexual assault on the boy, a third-year junior high school student who also lives in Amagasaki.

According to the indictment, Okino and the teenagers held the victim at knifepoint in the apartment for about three hours early Oct. 9.

The offenders allegedly forced the victim to strip and hit him repeatedly on the buttocks with a belt and dripped melted wax on the lower part of his body for about 90 minutes.

The victim later reported the incident to the police, and Okino and the others were subsequently arrested.

The Kobe District Public Prosecutor’s Office also sent the cases of the six teenagers to the Amagasaki branch of the Kobe Family Court on Wednesday on suspicion of sexual abuse and confinement.

Meanwhile, police said Thursday that Okino may have been forcing some of the teenage girls to engage in prostitution to pay for her living expenses.

Sources said several teenagers had been going in and out of Okino’s apartment since around February, and about 10 people were living in the unit at one point. Police said Okino’s 14-year-old daughter got acquainted with the teenagers via the Line smartphone app and invited them into the apartment.

Police allege that Okino, whose daughter was in a relationship with one of the teens, reportedly got upset at the 15-year-old boy, who had asked the daughter out.

Police said Okino instructed the teenagers to assault the boy and threatened him. One of the alleged offenders told the police that he was afraid to disobey as she had threatened him with a metal baseball bat and slapped him.