70-Year-Old Man Calls 72-Year-Old Woman 20 Times To Confess Feelings, Gets Arrested For Stalking

A 70-year-old man in Japan's Tochigi Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of stalking after he called an elderly woman nearly two dozen times in less than 24 hours.

The man, identified as Masakatsu Hitomi, called the mobile phone of an unnamed 72-year-old woman in his prefecture 20 times between Friday night and Saturday morning, Japanese media outlet Fuji News Network reported.

Masakatsu, an unemployed man from Nasushiobara city, was arrested Sunday after the woman filed a complaint with police, a report by Japan Today said.

The man admitted to repeatedly calling the woman on her cell phone. He told police that he wanted to express that his feelings for the woman were more than just friendship, authorities said.

The relationship between Masakatsu and the woman was unclear.

Under Japan's Anti-Stalking Act, actions such as repeatedly sending messages by telephone, fax, email or social media can be considered illegal.

The act was enacted following the death of 21-year-old university student Ino Shiori in the city of Okegawa back in 1999. Ino was fatally stabbed by a hitman hired by her abusive ex-boyfriend, Kazuhito Komatsu, following months of stalking and violent threats against the victim's family by her former partner.

An amendment to the anti-stalking law passed in 2021 also made the use of GPS devices to collect people's location information without consent illegal.

Offenders of the anti-stalking law can face up to two years in prison or can be fined up to 2 million yen ($17,275). Police have recommended perpetrators get treatment such as counseling at medical facilities since fiscal 2016.

A survey by Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) found that the nation had 20,189 consultations concerning stalking in 2020 — a decrease of 723 from the previous year. However, violations of the anti-stalking law rose by 121 to a record 985 cases in the same period.

Around 87.6% of stalking victims were women, and the remaining 12.4% were men, according to the NPA. The numbers are flipped when it comes to the breakdown of stalking perpetrators, 80.7% of whom were men, while 12.3% were women. The genders for the remaining 7% were unknown.