TOKYO: A Japanese court yesterday jailed a man for slipping corrosive poison into the shoes of a colleague he was stalking, causing her to have the tips of her toes amputated, officials and media reports said.
Tatsujiro Fukasawa, 41, was handed a seven-year sentence for assault, a court official confirmed. He poured the acid into the woman’s shoes late last year after she turned down his romantic overtures, media reports said. “This was a vicious crime because he used a chemical that can kill people,” said Judge Takafumi Miyamoto of the Shizuoka District Court, Jiji Press news agency said.
Hydrofluoric acid — which Fukasawa obtained from the laboratory where he and his victim worked — can result in death if absorbed through skin and into the bloodstream.
Because of the ability of hydrofluoric acid to penetrate tissue, poisoning can occur readily through exposure of skin or eyes, or when inhaled or swallowed. Symptoms of exposure to hydrofluoric acid may not be immediately evident.
Accidental exposures can go unnoticed, delaying treatment and increasing the extent and seriousness of the injury.
The victim went to hospital complaining of pain and developed gangrene in one foot, forcing her to have the ends of her toes amputated. AFP
