An incident occurred where a 25-year-old woman was assaulted and killed at an apartment in Shibuya in August. Her boyfriend, Ryotaro Masuda, a 26-year-old self-proclaimed private investor, instructed her to engage in sugar dating, in which he received money from men in return for dates, in order to finance his investments.
According to investigators, Masuda repeatedly assaulted the woman and instructed her to engage in sugar dating to fund his investments and living expenses. The woman is believed to have worked for a recruitment agency to earn money, which she gave to the suspect. In her diary, she wrote that she must absolutely obey what Ryotaro says. They started dating around December 2021 and started living together. The suspect was a company employee but retired in August 2023 and started earning a living from investments.
He is suspected of assaulting her several times at his apartment, between the end of July and August this year, causing a week-long injury to her face and lips. He has sated “I don’t remember for sure, but I have assaulted her.”
There were multiple images of her swollen face and chipped teeth on the victim’s smartphone. She was found collapsed in her room on August 30. She had several bruises on her face and body and the cause of death was traumatic shock.
Masuda was arrested the following day and stated that they had argued over the temperature of the room and that he had slapped her face, etc. After two months of witness detention, he was indicted on 19th of this month.
