Five schoolgirls, aged eleven and twelve, were assaulted by a drunk whilst riding a train home, and passengers in the carriage did nothing to help.
The girls, who were returning home after a trip to a nearby town, had an encounter with a man which ended with him apparently slapping three of them in the face, and hitting them with his bag.
It seems he did them no significant harm, for we hear that they were uninjured.
They issued a plaintive report of their experience: “There were one or two adults on the carriage, but they didn’t do anything to help us.”
They left the train as soon as possible, and their parents reported the incident to police.
On receiving the report, police soon investigated and tracked the assailant down. He was arrested, and turned out to be a 53-year-old unemployed man. He admitted his crimes, saying “I woz drunk an’ I ‘it ‘em”, or something to that effect.
Police are still looking into the particulars.
It is not clear whether the girls were engaged in any action which might be provocative.
Via the NHK.
The story has unleashed a storm of comments on 2ch, with a probable majority sympathising strongly with those passengers who did nothing.
They generally point out their impotence in the face of a possibly knife wielding opponent, the extreme risk of a one to one fight on a train with an unknown opponent, and the probability of being arrested for getting involved, though many are unhappy at the oppressive weight of this logic in the face of their desire to intervene.
Some also suspect the girls of having done something to arouse the man’s wrath, though this is pure conjecture.
2ch is hardly a representative sample, so let us pose the question ourselves in an equally unrepresentative venue:
You are riding home from some unspecified business. The carriage is nearly empty when a rough looking man reeking of alcohol takes offence at some real or imagined slight made by a gaggle of cheeky schoolgirls. He starts slapping the girls, and they look plaintively at the few other passengers, who are all pretending to be asleep.
I wouldn’t do any of those 6.
It’d be a mix of 4 and a toned down 5.
I’d call out to the guy, and if he turned my way, then all I need to do is confuse him. Granted, getting a drunk on your case isn’t the best idea, but better a guy than the girls.
53 year old drunken office worker isn’t exactly an intimidating match up. Drop tha hammer.
i was dealing with a drunk guy at a party yesterday… interestingly, he seemed not to notice me at all, even though i stood straight between him and his target of aggression. fortunately, some of his friends came shortly after and pulled him away.
then again, i might have imagined everything, as i was dead drunk too. :D
I doubt it’s hard to beat down a drunk. Even if he has combat experience being drunk in itself will lower his reactions and judgement, making himself an easy target. Just keep your distance and force him to the ground.
I picked 5 obviously.
If there’s no option that describes me pulling a taser, shocking the drunkard unconcious, gallantly teabagging him in front of the young damsels, taking a huge hot tortilla dump on his face, film the whole thing and later posting it on YouTube, I refuse to vote!!!
But seriously? I’d probably want very much to do number 5, but would probably end up doing number 3. I’m a coward anyways.
LMAO LMAO!!! nice answer!
This was a wasted opportunity for another season of Densha Otoko.
seconded
if it were a sober person it would be a harder opponent (unless he had learned the uber drunken fist) any hit on the head would leave unconscious the drunktard (you know the first to hit, hit twice) but the taser option is good to (less violent but its as good as knocking the hell out of him) and if the druntard have a knight beat the crap out of him and tell to the police that you just did it in self defence
There are legitimate reasons why it’s harder and harder to be chivalrous these days:
*our litigation-happy society. Like if you try to help someone in an accident, and having no training, you end up hurting them more. At least with professionals, they can sue the professional authority for more compensation.
*the crooks are actually getting more clever and more dangerous, with knowledge of their rights.
*If I was a breadwinner of a family of 6 children, I would prioritize my own safety. The security of 6 children versus that of 5 and the math is simple. There was a recent case of a father in NZ who tried to help a woman and was stabbed to death. It turns out the perpetrator was the woman’s boyfriend and they were ‘just’ having an argument that turned violent.
*If it looks like a quarrel between lovers, I would NEVER intervene. All sense of rationality is cut loose when it’s a conflict between lovers, and there are domestic violence laws already to protect the parties (usually, the female).
After all is said and done, my first instinct would be to help out, powerless I may be. But then I recall the news of good samaritans getting killed and I think I’d rather have a world with more samaritans alive than more a$$holes, even if it means ceasing to be good samaritans.
i agreed. there was once this man near my town, he died trying to act ‘heroic’. apparently there is this immigrant man trying to snatch an immigrant young woman’s handbag, and he interverned and tried to stop the guy. the criminal immigrant whipped up a knife and stabbed him. poor guy, he died to protect someone who’s probably illegal anyway, and ended up leaving a widow and a baby orphaned.
“The story has unleashed a storm of comments on 2ch, with a probable majority sympathizing strongly with those passengers who did nothing” that crap sounds like 2ch.
Someone should have done something at least the “one or two adults on the carriage” could have said something. If there were two adults then they outnumbered the person and really should have done something. I might not start with number five, but I would start with number four. If that did not work then I would go with five being it is not that far away. Thenightsshadow has a point too, cannot say that I would fight the person but I would do what I could, and at least get him to focus on me and not the girls.
I’d intervene, though be terrified the entire time that the Japanese police would just arrest me instead of him. I wouldn’t put it past them for a second…
i would slap all of them in the face and film the whole thing.
No option for discretely approach the drunk from behind and knock him out?
Go save the schoolgirls, like an hero.
Who knows, you might get some “reward” out of them if you survive the encounter.
What kind of “reward” are you thinking of? From 11 and 12 year old schoolgirls, wonder what they can do for you…
I’ll approach him and try to pursue him for further drink. “My treat” I offer him. If he accept than we will have a real ‘good’ talk behind the alley.
If he push me away, I’ll try to pursue the girls off the train or stay away while I attract the man’s attention and try to ask for help at the next stop.
If he lend the first punch, Jesus say let them hit your other face. So if he indeed does hit the 2nd time, I’ll do whatever necessary actions possible as not to scare the damsel.
Whatever choices come, my most important action taken will be getting to know the girls ^^
I would first do option 2 and then a mix of 4 and 5:
If time allows it I would discretely call(mobile phone) some professional help (police, staff, etc) and then step out to distract the drunkard(s)/assailant(s) or simply win time for the professionals to arrive.
If time is short (aggressive acting, high tension, some beating already going underway) then I would simply call for the professionals openly and with increased voice on the phone, so the drunkard(s)/assailant(s) either scram or risk getting caught on the act.
Both ways I would not endanger myself too much (if you choose to act/help in such situations you are ALWAYS in some danger, as long as they only remember your face or similar), but have a good chance at stopping them or limit the damage.
…in before false saint?
#5, though not exactly that way. I’ve done security/bouncing before, so dealing with drunks wouldn’t be anything new to me. There’s always the danger of the drunk being armed, but you can usually get a drunk’s mind to wander with a bit of quick talking, and you can deal with them accordingly. Wouldn’t work so well for me with my shoddy Japanese though, heh.
A person in Japan can be threatened with prosecution even though that person is defending others from an attacker?
Guess I’m too used to living in a country where it is acceptable to blow away a burgler who makes a move at you.
this happens too in my city, and what I do is to pull out the emergency panic button, or lever, depends on the train, if they didnt did that then those are cowards,
Hey, that’s a good idea. It’s safe, and it’s a way to instantaneously summon help, in expense of convenience.
this really a good idea,,,
but I think the train Japan have that kind of lever and panic button,,
so they really didnt do anything, I think…
I would try to disarm and immobilize the man by holding him by the arms and throwing him in the ground and keeping him from moving at all, while asking other people to call the police.
How can people stay passive on a situation like this.
I’d beat the shit out of him. Seriously who the fuck does he think he is, I don’t care if he was drunk, hell I wouldn’t care if I went to jail just for beating him.
And to those who wan away, what a bunch of cowards, you can’t even call yourselves men, please die.
me 2 allthough i have a hero complex
[x] Rape the maids
One word: Mace…
Not as satisfying as savagely beating the drunkard with an Excalibolg-style nailbat, but much more legal (and easier to carry).
Of course, simply carrying Mace or a tazer may be considered suspicious by Japanese police when you’re a tall (by Japaneses standards), heavy-built male gaijin…
Lol @ at all the internet toughguys. I’ve seen enough situations where bystanders could have intervened to stop an asshole being an asshole….but they never do. Not once. I see no reason to think that any of you internet superheroes would be any different when you’re actually faced with an intimidating drunk who is already demonstrating that he’s willing to be violent.
True that, many people who say they would help in such a situation likely wouldn’t in real life. I probably wouldn’t do much except call the police. I’m trained to use handguns, but that doesn’t help when guns are banned in Japan; without one, I’m pretty much defenseless. Even then, I’d be afraid to risk my life. For all I know, he could have a concealed weapon, too.
Fair enough, but sometimes you have to just dive in and forget the logical fears.
I dunno about the average otaku though. skinny pimply faced teenager might just become a weapon for the drunk to swing around and beat the lolis with.
If it continues to go on for more then 30 seconds, you could count on me jumping in. Especially if it was unprovoked. What I would do, I would have no idea, I like the Bouncer’s idea.
Even in Japan…but that would probably take a minute or so of the drunk bullshitting, and then I would probably get involved in a way I could. In Japan though, it would take a lot more due to the circumstances…I would have a lot to lose if things didn’t go my way, besides getting stabbed or something of the sort, yeah there are things that would be worse off for me then a knife wound to my hand.
Like hell I’d let some drunk idiot beat on girls. I’d sock him in the face no matter who it was. Since he’s already drunk, he probably wouldn’t mind me knocking him asleep anyway.
There’s something seriously wrong with 2ch for sympathizing with those who did nothing and not the girls.
why would u do a good deed? Japan will punish u for it anyway? its better to look like a coward rather than thrown in jail for being a good person
nice punch in the face never hurt anyone- at least you when your throwing them.