A 49-year-old part-time worker, Masae Sakurai, has been arrested in Koga, Japan, on suspicion of sewing her 42-year-old flatmate's lips shut with a needle and thread, leaving the victim unable to eat or speak. The case matters because of the disturbing nature of the alleged assault and questions over how a vulnerable person came to be held in such circumstances, with police still investigating the motive and the relationship between the two women.

The alleged attack is said to have taken place at around 1.30pm on 29 June, with the victim escaping the following day while Sakurai was out. Wearing a white face mask, the woman ran to a nearby shop and handed an employee a note reading 'please help me', explaining she had not fled sooner out of fear. The pair had lived together at Sakurai's home since April 2025, and acquaintances told Japanese media that Sakurai had a history of taking in people, including young women and girls, who had nowhere else to go. It is not known whether she has admitted or denied the allegations.