MITO, Japan - A 49-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly sewing shut the lips of a woman she was living with in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki, according to local police.
Masae Sakurai, who claims to be a part-time worker living in Koga, was arrested Monday. She allegedly injured the 42-year-old woman by sewing her lips shut with a needle and thread at Sakurai's home on June 29.
The victim, who had been living with Sakurai since around April 2025, told the police that she "had been too scared to run away" before the incident.
The injured woman fled to a nearby shop and showed a note asking for help. An employee called the police at around 1:30 p.m. on June 30.
The police have not disclosed whether Sakurai has admitted to the allegations. They also believe other people living at the house may have been present during the incident.
A 54-year-old acquaintance of Sakurai who visited the house in November told reporters on Wednesday that he had seen "two or three women and a male around the age of a junior or senior high school student."
A 49-year-old woman who used to work with Sakurai said she learned about three years ago that the suspect was "taking care of girls who have nowhere to go after reaching out to their parents."
