The Sapporo District Court has ordered a man to pay ¥50 million in damages to the family of his girlfriend who tried to commit suicide due to his domestic violence.

Presiding Judge Kenyu Homma accepted the plaintiffs' argument that the 26-year-old woman's attempted suicide was prompted by the man's violence, and said the man should have known "the woman was seriously distressed and may commit suicide."

The woman jumped from the 14th floor of a condominium building in January 2009. She survived the fall but was severely injured.