The Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office has decided not to prosecute a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, both Nepali nationals, who were arrested on suspicion of murdering a Nepali student in Fukuoka in August. The decision was dated last month on the 29th.
The two were arrested on suspicion of killing Laxmi Rajbanshi, a Nepali student who was 25, and were released in September with their cases held in suspension, according to police. A third suspect arrested with them, Tamang Sands, 28, was indicted on a murder charge in September.
The prosecutors office said it dropped the case against the two after weighing whether they conspired with the person who carried out the killing. "The only perpetrator in this case is the defendant Tamang Sands, and for the two we examined the evidence focusing on whether there was conspiracy with the perpetrator," the office said in explaining the decision.
The non-prosecution leaves the killing without a public account of what happened or why. No motive has been disclosed, and prosecutors have not said what evidence they found on the two released suspects. For Nepali residents in Fukuoka, the decision closes the case against two members of their community without answering the questions the arrest raised.