This file photo shows the Fukuoka District Court in the city's Chuo Ward. (Mainichi)

       FUKUOKA -- Prosecutors demanded a prison term for a man who gave his girlfriend an abortion-inducing drug without her knowledge and made her miscarry, during his trial at the Fukuoka District Court on Nov. 10.

       Ryuji Hamamura, a 35-year-old resident of the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Miyawaka, faces a charge of abortion without consent. In requesting the 4 1/2-year prison sentence, prosecutors said his actions were a "malicious crime that disregarded the danger posed to the mother." His lawyer requested a suspended sentence, and the trial concluded the same day.

       According to the indictment, Hamamura is accused of causing the termination of the pregnancy by secretly giving to his girlfriend without her consent the tablet medication Cytotec 100, which includes a substance inducing uterine contractions. His actions reportedly took place between around 10 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. on June 11, when his girlfriend, then 29, was nine weeks pregnant.

       In their opening statement to the trial, prosecutors said the defendant had wanted to break up with the woman, but thought he wouldn't be able to after finding out she was pregnant. He reportedly pretended to be happy about the pregnancy, but went online and ordered the tablets containing the active ingredient misoprostol, and secretly gave them to her during sex. The tablets are not approved as abortion medication in Japan.

       The woman subsequently experienced stomach pains and bleeding, and found out at an OB-GYN clinic the following day that she had miscarried.

       "It was an extremely selfish crime, and it is impossible to imagine the betrayed woman's pain," the prosecution said in its closing argument.

       A lawyer defending Hamamura sought a lenient decision, saying the defendant had reached a settlement with the woman to pay her over 5 million yen (about $44,000), and that relatives would keep watch of him. In response to questioning in the trial, Hamamura stated, "I regret the fact that I hurt the woman and caused the loss of a little life."

       A ruling on the case is set for Dec. 10.

       (Japanese original by Yuta Hiratsuka, Kyushu News Department)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0