crime

Student abducts 12-yr-old girl, confines her in travel bag in taxi trunk in Hiroshima

60 Comments

Police said Wednesday they have arrested a 20-year-old university student for allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old elementary school girl in Hiroshima on Tuesday night.

Police said the suspect, identified as Tomohiro Kodama from Setagaya in Tokyo, is accused of forcing the girl to get into a large travel bag at knifepoint and then placing it in the trunk of a taxi. The girl had been waiting for her mother to pick her up at Nishi-Hiroshima Station after attending cram school.

According to police, Kodama asked the taxi driver to help him put the bag in the trunk at about 8:50 p.m. Tuesday and then drive to Hiroshima Station. The driver was quoted by NHK as saying he felt something warm and soft. He drove along for about four kilometers and could hear cries coming from the trunk. When he asked Kodama if there was a dog in the bag, Kodama said nothing. When they stopped at a traffic light, Kodama asked to get out.

However, the driver restrained him and asked a passerby to call police. Then he and the passerby opened the bag and found the girl, unharmed.

Kodama, who belongs to a martial arts club at his university, has confessed to kidnapping and confining the girl. He was quoted by police as saying he did not know her and that he had planned to take her back to a hotel near Hiroshima Station, where he was staying.

© Japan Today

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60 Comments
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Taxi Driver for the WIN! Stupid kidnapper...using a taxi to kidnap a girl = EPIC FAIL

25 ( +28 / -3 )

Nice one Mr. Taxi Driver. I dread to think what fate was awaiting the poor girl once they reached the destination. Now put Kodama in a room with the girl's family members for a little while before the legal system pampers him.

23 ( +24 / -2 )

If he couldn't lift up the bag on his own, what the heck was he going to do with it when he got out? On a more crass note: I've heard of guys bagging chicks in a taxi but this one takes the cake. Zzziinnngg!!!

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Just glad the poor girl is OK. Also I am happy this scumbag potential child rapist/killer is over 20 and thus his crime cannot be summarily dismissed. He absolutely must face at least 20 years for this - and a lifetime ban from being within 500m of any child would be appropriate.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

He's as stupid as he is deranged.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

" When they stopped at a traffic light, Kodama asked to get out. However, the driver restrained him and asked a passerby to call police. "

Good thinking! I´d like to shake that taxidrivers hand.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Wow...the bag she was shoved in is really small...amazing that she could even fit

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20120905/k10014793301000.html

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Awesome taxi driver~! Luckily the kidnapper didn't use his knife on him. Hope the girl will be ok.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

He's a few cans short of a six pack, that's for sure.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

you have this and in nagoya a young guy held an elementary student hostage beside his dads dead body!!.. you have herbivore men and socially inept males who get their kicks from "unreal" girls in AKB and anime. what the hell is this country going to be like by the next generation. I know there are normal japanese guys out there but are they becoming a minority????

0 ( +4 / -4 )

What will he do with the girl whom he randomly kidnapped? This story is short, more info please.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

he is quite obviously a nutcase, should never be let out

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"What will he do with the girl whom he randomly kidnapped? This story is short, more info please."

Strange question! What he wanted to do with her is not something I want to think about. What would be helpful to know is the circumstances of how he got the girl in the bag.

And that's only to help other kids.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Seems oddly similar to the twenty something year old guy that kidnapped the young girl yesterday. I wonder if they had the same motive.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Great Job Taxi Driver!

Hope that guy gets a harsh sentence, keep him off the streets.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Oh thnx so much to the great taxi driver!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Why are there so many weirdos/beasts here?

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Absolutely horrifying ordeal for this poor little 12 year old girl. I'm very happy she came out of this without any harm. This taxi driver deserves a medal. He was brave, alert, smart guy!

Can anyone imagine if someone had you at knife point and packed you in a bag and dumped you in the back of a trunk. Just imagine how that would feel. 100% terrifying.

Should just do the same thing to these psychos who pick on the weak.

Grab em, smash em, pack em in the duffle bag and dumb them in the back of a trunk and let them chill for a week - see how they feel.

Oh wait up southsakai! I'm too extreme now, I forgot this psycho actually has some human rights since he's alive!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Hope the sicko gets dropped down a flight of stairs and locked in a cell with a bruiser who likes young men.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Is it me, or are we seeing an increase in freak/heinous crimes as of late? Yesterday it was a young man abducting a 7y/o in Nagoya where they also found his (the suspects) father's dead body--and he confessed to the kidnap of the girl and the murder of his father...today, this?!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Yasukuni:

" What would be helpful to know is the circumstances of how he got the girl in the bag. "

TV says he threatened her with a knife. And I assume that he was grabbing her at the same; otherwise she could have run away.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I absolutely hate guys that kidnap little girls at knifepoint and put them in a bag. Word up to the cab driver. Hero and winning! One lucky girl ~ thank God and the cabbie.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What's with all the crimes against children lately? From child abductions like this and the 7 yr old in Nagoya yesterday to psychotic parents abusing their kids for not cleaning up or beating them at video games. Thank goodness this cab driver has more brains than most others that whose cabs I've been in. Is it that more crimes are being reported that used to be covered up or is the population of psychos increasing?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Great job from the taxi driver with a happy ending to a bad situation.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Lesson of the story: Don't go out alone in the night especially when you're a young girl, cause some pedo-sick headed freak might bag you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

20 year old male without the strength to lift a 12 year old girl by himself? Any chance a man that weak has some self-esteem issues and perhaps even more severe mental problems?

He is not right in the head in any case, but sometimes it turns out creeps like this just wanted someone to talk to, because no one else will. It happens. Jumping to conclusions about his motives is the road to a very dangerous paranoia.

The taxi driver will end up another unsung Japanese hero. We will never hear about him again, and its another tragedy on top of the kidnapping. He should get a holiday named after him. It would be better than those silly days that come from dead emperor's birthdays.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Good job for the taxi driver, who potentially put his own life at risk, since the guy had a knife. Also to restrain him, he either had to jump from the front seat back, or tackle him down as he attempted to leave the car from the right or run around from the right to the left side of the car.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

mashed potatoes:

" 20 year old male without the strength to lift a 12 year old girl by himself? "

She weighs 35 kg. And it is not that easy to lift that weight when it is in a sports bag. They tried on TV, and the anchors had trouble too.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I am sure the girl's father is looking forward to meeting him (the student)...

Well done cabbie. Job well done.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Thank god for the taxi driver not just letting the boy get out and get away or anything. Good on him. Also good news is that the idiot who kidnapped the girl is 20 and cannot get off as a minor.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The driver had ultra-sonic hearing, being able to make out utterances like "iiiyada!", "yamete!" and "ikasete!" at 35 Khz coming from the bag.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

sarcaustic:

" The driver had ultra-sonic hearing, being able to make out utterances like "iiiyada!", "yamete!" and "ikasete!" at 35 Khz coming from the bag. "

The driver on TV said he heard "dashite, dashite!", and they demonstrated that one can indeed hear shouts from from trunk. And 35,000 Hz is way above voice spectrum.

Frankly, I can´t understand your comment.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

20 year old guy, 12 year old girl.... the mind boggles. I mean seriously, couldn't he just ask a girl his own age for a date? It's not like 20 year old Japanese girls look all that different from 12 year olds anyway.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

the poor kid

1 ( +1 / -0 )

dumbass

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Yasukuni, very, very right! Some people here think they are funny, kidnapping kids at knife point and shoving them into the trunk of taxi, real funny, NOT! I just refuse to even mention these folk who make idiotic comments to try and be funny, when we are talking about the life a little girl.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

buchailldana: > socially inept males who get their kicks from "unreal" girls in AKB and anime.

What? I get it about the anime, but the girls in AKB are real. They are a mainstream act (Kouhaku Utagassen appearance and all) represent what is considered hot in Japan.

By the way, I saw one of those girls appear on an enka singing show, clad in a kimono, and she knocked them out with vocal talent, and she said she was a big fan of enka singers like Kitajima Saburo, whom I also adore.

After that, I stopped being an AKB 48 hater, which might have been the point.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This guy is a psychopath he should be locked up forever. Next time he will use his own car.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That girl must've been a midget or a contortionist to fit in that bag! And the kidnapper still couldn't lift it either?? Very odd on both sides!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Lesson of the story: Don't go out alone in the night especially when you're a young girl, cause some pedo-sick headed freak might bag you.

I wonder about the spot where she had been waiting to be picked up. If right in front of the station where private cars can drop off and pick up passengers, I doubt this abduction would have taken place as there is a usually busy, large taxi stand (drivers hanging about), a bus terminal, a koban, a convenience store, bicycle parking, etc, and all is well lit up. And people are still at that time coming and going.

The perv must have planned the kidnap before-hand, but his target random. Any girl would have been OK. I applaud the action of the taxi driver and I hope the girl won't suffer from long term trauma.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A guy or guys have been approaching elementary school girls near where I live recently. This country is getting scarier.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Man. From cramming in school to being crammed into a bag. He should be crammed into a suitcase and dropped of at San Quentin with extra KY

1 ( +2 / -1 )

you have herbivore men and socially inept males who get their kicks from "unreal" girls in AKB and anime.

...which has absolutely nothing to do with this news story - unless you have additional info that wasn't reported in the article?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Another nutter!

Seems Kodama's martial arts training wasn't enough for the taxi driver and the passerby.

Probably the taxi driver didn't get paid. Fortunately it was only 4 kilometers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Thank goodness he didn't get far enough to assault her. But I hope they give this guy proper judgement and punishment for his crime.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When I read the title I thought... didn't this happen yesterday... Oops! Another one.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Unbelieveable.... the taxi driver deserves a lot of Thanks!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Good job for the taxi driver. Pity the kid will live with this for the rest of her life. But at least she'll have a life. I hope they lock this scum sucking perv up for a long time, but i wonder how this will turn out. I would worry that, without a murder, a few deep bows and apologies will get this creep a suspended sentence. But maybe not. Hopefully the prosecutor will grow a pair of horns and charge in.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

wow !!! Just finished watching NHK news. What kind of crazy sick man is this ???? No suspended sentence obviously this guy has the makings of a serial killer.

sick freak !!!!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The taxi driver is the hero. He saved her life. In Japan, there is a lack of knowledge, training and preparedness exists on the kidnapping issue at most levels, including law enforcement. Formal kidnap protocols are not widely distributed among law enforcement agencies and most agencies have little or no experience investigating non-family or predatory abductions. So, if one occurs in your community, your local law enforcement agency might be ill prepared to investigate the case. Although there are no quick fixes to the problems of child safety, there are many things that we can do as adults to address and positively impact the issue.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

What a hero, this taxi driver. I'd buy this guy a beer if I could. He risked his life considering his passenger probably still had his knife with him.

As for this university student, I hope he doesn't get off lightly and gets what he deserves for his crime. Practicing martial arts is supposed to teach one discipline and control; what good did it to do him.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Freaking nuts are just that freaking nutz!

Glas the kid is okay.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Practicing martial arts is supposed to teach one discipline and control; what good did it to do him.

That kind of discipline only works in battle, doesn't work when it comes to perversion sadly.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Really excellent job Taxi Driver. Its nice to see one of these stories with a happy ending and a citizen doing the right thing rather than looking the other way.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japanese politicians and executives need to learn from this taxi driver--independent thinking, quick decision making, and putting thoughts to action. This is leadership!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Hope the taxi driver gets some kind of award - monetary or somethng from the emperor. Japan needs to publicly honor ordinary people who show bravery and initiative.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Great job by the cabbie for being alert and the other passer-by who stopped to help.

I hope her parents can take more precautionary measures in future. It doesn't hurt to pick your kid up directly from the cram school itself than to let her wait outside a train station alone at night.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

gelendestrasse:

" I hope they lock this scum sucking perv up for a long time, "

I think most of us here hope that. But face it, since he did not get the chance to molest and/or murder her, they can only charge him with "illegal confinement" or some such. So, alas it will be more like another slap on the wrist.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Incredibly, police have said he may have been planning this well in advance. Well, he did get the girl into the bag and into a taxi...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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