Japanese woman arrested for sewing roommate’s mouth shut

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A Japanese woman was arrested for allegedly sewing shut the lips of another woman she was living with, causing injuries that left her unable to eat or speak.

Masae Sakurai, 49, a part-time worker, was arrested on Monday in Koga, a city in Ibaraki prefecture northeast of Tokyo, over the alleged attack on her 42-year-old roommate.

Police said Ms Sakurai used a needle and thread to sew the woman’s lips together at around 1.30pm local time on 29 June. They did not disclose whether Ms Sakurai had admitted to the allegations, but announced they were investigating the motive and circumstances behind the assault. They were also investigating the relationship between the two women.

The victim escaped the house at around 1.30pm the following day while Ms Sakurai was out, Japan Today reported. Wearing a white face mask, she ran to a nearby shop and handed a staff member a note reading “Please help me”, as she was unable to speak because of her injuries. The employee alerted police.

The woman later told police fear of Ms Sakurai had prevented her from fleeing sooner. “I was afraid of Sakurai, so I couldn’t escape right away,” she said.

The two women had been living together at Ms Sakurai’s house since around April 2025, Kyodo News reported. Police said other people had been staying at the property as well and they were questioning them as part of the investigation.

Officers were considering the possibility that some of them were present during the incident.

Acquaintances of Ms Sakurai told local broadcaster TV Asahi that she had a history of allowing people who had left their homes to stay with her and had helped some find work, suggesting that several people might have lived at the house at different times, according to a report by The Straits Times.