Japan to demand US hand over Marine suspected in rape case

TOKYO: Japan said on Monday it would demand the US military hand over a Marine suspected of raping a 19-year-old woman in Okinawa, a case that looks set to fuel resentment of the military’s presence on the southern island.

The latest allegation, which follows several high-profile criminal cases involving US soldiers stationed there, comes at a delicate time given Washington’s plan to overhaul its military forces in Asia, of which about a quarter are based in Okinawa.

Police in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, said they had obtained an arrest warrant from the local court for US Marine lance corporal Jose W. Torres, who allegedly raped a Japanese woman after punching her in the face in the early hours of May 25. The 21-year-old Marine, whose hometown was withheld, was being held in US military custody. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said in a statement that Japan would demand US authorities hand over the suspect before he was indicted. Kawaguchi also said she had told US ambassador to Japan Howard Baker that the incident was “truly regrettable” and called for tighter discipline for the US military as well as steps to prevent similar incidents.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency quoted police sources as saying earlier that the American serviceman admitted to punching the woman in the face but denied raping her, saying the relationship with the woman was consensual. —Reuters

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