OSAKA —

The Osaka Family Court on Thursday ordered a psychiatric checkup on an 18-year-old boy accused of pushing a 38-year-old man to his death off a platform at a railway station in the city of Okayama in March, lawyers said. The teen from Daito, Osaka Prefecture, is accused of pushing Kuniaki Kariya, an Okayama prefectural government employee, off a platform at JR Okayama Station shortly after 11 p.m. on March 25. Kariya died after being hit by a train.

The teen, his parents and his two caretakers were present at the two-hour, closed-door court session. The victim’s mother and sister also attended the trial and delivered statements, the lawyers said. Prosecutors earlier conducted a simplified mental checkup that found the teen suffering from Asperger syndrome, one of several autism spectrum disorders. The syndrome is characterized by abnormalities in social interaction and communication, as well as by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior.

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9 Comments

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  franz75 at 08:37 AM JST - 9th May

  He is nuts and responsible for his action.

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  timeon at 09:24 AM JST - 9th May

  The syndrome is characterized by abnormalities in social interaction and communication, as well as by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior.

  that's about half of the dudes I see on Yamanote everyday

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  asdfghjkl at 01:01 PM JST - 9th May

  Seems like there is a syndrome for every mental condition. Nuts or not he should be put away, since he pushed the guy and no one else.

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  Notginger at 01:44 PM JST - 9th May

  I think it's actually called "Psychiatric evaluation". A mental test would be arithmetic without a calculator.

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  xpompey8 at 04:48 PM JST - 9th May

  This could set the precedent in dealing with all murders.

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  brotokyo at 05:20 PM JST - 9th May

  So that's what the disease that I see daily on the platforms is called: Asperger syndrome.

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  Speed at 11:57 PM JST - 9th May

  The syndrome is characterized by abnormalities in social interaction and communication, as well as by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior.>

  Tell this to Kuniaki Kariya. Poor guy! Had to meet a such a horrid death. Whatever you call this autism, the consequences of ending another person's life have to to be dealt out. NO ONE can just go and shove someone off a platform in front of an oncoming train!

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  telecasterplayer at 12:43 AM JST - 10th May

  Asperger Syndrome (imo) is one of those things that people just dealt with, before being "discovered" by the industry/profit side of the psychiatry world. The bottom line here is, whether the boy knew that pushing a human being in front of the grinding wheels of an oncoming train would cause a horrific, messy death. Asperger Syndrome, as I understand it, does NOT interfere with that ability. AS doesn't effect the intellect, in fact, many AS patients are very intelligent and perceptive.

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  smithinjapan at 10:42 PM JST - 10th May

  Geez.... trouble communicating and with social interaction.... lack of interest in activities.... so I guess the thousands of Hiki-komori all have this disease and can go on a killing rampage.

  Sad excuses for a very sad youth (and country for allowing it to go on). I hope they find him mentally fit and charge him as an adult, throwing away the key. This kind of crazy behaviour has to be severely punished, or this society will spiral even more out of control.

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