Thursday, May 12, 2011

Man gets 2.5 years in prison for assaulting singer Onitsuka

TOKYO, May 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced a 39-year-old man to two-and-a-half years in prison for assaulting and severely injuring singer and songwriter Chihiro Onitsuka at her apartment in Tokyo last summer.

Judge Masaru Okabe said in the ruling that Yusuke Komiya, the 30-year- old singer's live-in boyfriend at the time, "relentlessly" assaulted Onitsuka over frustration accumulated while living with her, adding that he bears responsibility for inflicting injuries on the face of a female artist.

The court rejected Komiya's claim that he "slapped her only once." Prosecutors demanded a three-year imprisonment for the defendant.

According to the ruling, Komiya beat Onitsuka on Aug. 18 last year, inflicting injuries that took her about a month to recover from by hitting her in the face, kicking her in the stomach and poking her in both eyes with his fingers after knocking her face on the floor.

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