The gore and violence of this frightening story seem like something straight out of an action-packed anime or a full-on horror story. I mean, how could someone so small and adorable be capable of an atrocity so vile and utterly inhumane?
The untimely incident took place in 2004; a small town called Sasebo, within Nagasaki, Japan was about to be thrown into a state of panic and fright. The day was June 1st and the sixth-grade class at Okubo Elementary School was getting ready for their lunch break when the teacher in charge of the class noticed two of her female students had gone missing. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary so the teacher assumed they'd show up soon. Lo and Behold one of the girls does show up but she's covered in blood with a box cutter in her hands.
The teacher starts panicking and immediately assumes the bloodied girl cut herself. In her worried state, she tried to look for cuts on the little girl's body when the girl revealed "this isn't my blood" then pointed to the hallway.
Okay, who else is getting horror anime vibes from this?
I mean, Japanese schoolgirl?
Bloody hands?
All we need is one mad fighting scene and a remarkable backstory.
Back to the story...
The panicky teacher heads to the hallway and that's when the story becomes clear. Right there in another classroom the other missing girl, 12-year-old Satomi Mitarai was faced down in her own blood with a deep gash on her neck along with several other slashes on her arms and hands.
This devastating incident threw the whole school into a terror frenzy; just imagine being the teacher or even the principal and having to deal with a student killing another student. The paramedics were called but there was nothing they could do to save poor Satomi.
Satomi's 11-year-old killer would later be dubbed "Girl A" by the media due to Japan's law against disclosing the identity of minors that commit murder. Yes, in Japan it is illegal to reveal the identity of any killer below 16 so for that reason, Girl A was never known to the public until an accidental leak by a news channel. But the question beckons, what exactly prompted Girl A to go berserk on her classmate?
Explicit Details of Satomi's Murder
In a police interview, Girl A explained that a simple "come here for a second" was enough to lure Satomi to the classroom and get her seated while Girl A closed the classroom curtain shut. Girl A then stood behind Satomi, put her hands over Satomi's eyes and drove the box cutter deep into her throat causing her to frail before the attack continued. To make things even more disturbing, Girl A didn't head over to alert her teacher immediately. Instead, she stood there for a good 15 minutes and watched Satomi bleed out before going to her teacher.
None of this made sense for a child to have carried out. Was this a freak accident or is Girl A just a psychopath that derives joy in killing?
Girl A's Motive:
During an interrogation, Girl A reveals that the murder is premeditated; she indeed intended to kill Satomi. This kid planned the whole thing - how she'd lure Satomi to the classroom down to the weapon she'd use. She went on to say she even "weighed" her options and this was the path she deemed best.
Nonetheless, Girl A isn't a psychopath like you're thinking.
Although the murder was premeditated, her reasons were born from resentment towards Satomi and not an innate desire to kill. Girl A disclosed that Satomi had bullied her on the internet and this act was merely an act of vengeance. But despite her confessions and clear motive, this revelation only threw the whole community into more of a frenzy. I mean this girl is just 11 years old o, if you don't know how young 11 is just think to when you were in JSS 1 or Primary/Basic 5.
So in a bid to find an explanation for Girl A's actions, the society started pushing the blame to other factors - "maybe she was being abused by her father" they said, "it's most likely the violent media she consumed" they said. The one rationalisation that stood out from others was the assumption that Girl A had mental issues.
Psychological Profiling of Girl A
During her trial Girl A was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome - a developmental disorder that affects one's ability to socialise and communicate. Okay is it only me that this doesn't make sense to? This girl planned a whole murder and you're blaming it on an inability to socialise???
What do you guys think, can we attribute her behaviour to psychological issues or is it vain to blame her actions on a mental disorder?
Want to read more on Girl A? Check why she was nicknamed Nevada-tan, you'll find a section on the internet that dubbed her the "cutest" killer. Yes, this girl killed her classmate in cold blood yet people glorify and even cosplay her.
Need we talk about the Japanese human eater, Issei Sagawa who rose to stardom and became a celebrity right after killing his lover and eating her body?
Several research has studied the true cause of this abnormal behavior, should it be attributed to genetics or it's simply the product of the environment these people found themselves?
Some studies have even showed that most of these serial killers are from dysfunctional homes however, we cannot disparage that there are born killers!
Have you seen or read about any such anti social humans and toi want to share? Kindly join the conversation in the comment below.
I said...
ReplyDeleteWell,I believe her inability to connect to others might have led to her lack of emphaty. As you clearly stated,her action was vengeance-driven .what makes it interesting is that she is young ,we've seen worse incidents in the course of revenge.
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