Elder sumo wrestlers of the Tokitsukaze stable have told police that 17-year-old wrestler Takashi Saito, who died in June, had been subjected to "punitive" sparring bouts, according to investigative sources.
But stable master Tokitsukaze, who was fired last week, has denied this during police questioning, and other elder wrestlers of the stable have also police the bouts were just a part of training, including striking the victim even after he had collapsed, the sources said.
Police plan to build a criminal case against Tokitsukaze, whose real name is Junichi Yamamoto, and several older wrestlers after they resume their interrogations of those involved in the apparent fatal assault. The questioning had been suspended to await the results of Saito's autopsy, which came out Friday.The sources said some of the four or five elder wrestlers involved in the sparring on the morning of June 26 have told police the bouts were punishment meted out against Saito, whose ring name was Tokitaizan, because he had left the stable the previous day.
But some claimed the sparring, which included kicking and other violent acts even after Saito had collapsed, was "ordinary practice," the sources said.
Saito lost consciousness soon after the practice and died after being taken to a hospital.
The autopsy determined he died from multiple injury shock. Police believe the injuries were caused over two days — the June 26 sparring bouts and other violent acts, including being beaten with steel baseball bats the previous day.
They plan to glean the level of the elder wrestlers' involvement to single out those facing charges for inflicting injuries that resulted in the death, the sources said.
The Japan Times
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