BI nabs overstaying Japanese tourist wanted for rape in Japan

INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested an overstaying Japanese tourist in the Philippines who is wanted for rape in Japan, the bureau said on Friday.

Sugihara Hirotaka, 38, who has been overstaying in the Philippines since 2019, was arrested in Parañaque City on Monday.

“He is also a suspect in a series of violent incidents of abduction and rape of other minors in Japan,” FSU acting chief Rendel Sy said in the same statement.

In a statement, Immigration chief Norman Tansingco said the fugitive was detained at the bureau’s facility in Taguig.

“We will deport him as soon as we have secured the necessary clearances for his departure. He cannot return to the Philippines as he was already blacklisted and banned from re-entering the country,” Tansingco said.

In August 2021, Hirotaka was implicated in the rape of a woman in 2019 and a court issued a warrant for his arrest.

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Hirotaka reportedly fled to the Philippines in 2019 as a tourist.