Junko Furuta
Seventeen-year-old Junko Furuta was kidnapped and tortured for 44 days by four teenage boys in Tokyo. The extreme nature of the case shocked Japan. All perpetrators received sentences many considered too lenient.
On November 25, 1988, seventeen-year-old Junko Furuta was kidnapped by four boys, aged 16-18, in Misato, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She was held captive in one of the boys' homes in the Ayase district of Adachi, Tokyo for 44 days.
During her captivity, Junko was subjected to extreme and prolonged torture by the four main perpetrators and numerous accomplices. The parents of the homeowner were aware she was there but were intimidated into silence by their son's yakuza connections.
Junko died on January 4, 1989 from her injuries. Her body was placed in a 55-gallon drum filled with concrete and dumped in a vacant lot in Koto City, Tokyo.
Because the perpetrators were minors at the time of the crime, they received sentences ranging from 5 to 20 years under Japan's juvenile law. The perceived leniency of the sentences outraged the Japanese public and prompted calls for reform.
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