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Cody
22nd April 2003, 06:49
A young woman had her face cut open by a knife-wielding man in the middle of a Tokyo residential district on Monday night, police said Tuesday.

Mainichi Shimbun

Investigators seal off the spot where the woman was attacked Monday night.

The assailant, who also stabbed the victim several times during the unprovoked attack in Setagaya-ku, remains at large.

Police said the 21-year-old company employee was on her way home from Daitabashi Station on the Keio Line shortly before 10 p.m. when she noticed somebody was following her. She turned around and saw a man standing right behind her.

Without saying a word, the man slashed her right cheek with a knife and then stabbed her in the arm and back before running away.

The victim, who suffered a 5-centimeter deep cut on her cheek, raised the alarm at a nearby fast food shop. The woman is a native of Fukushima Prefecture and joined her Tokyo company earlier this month.

She told investigators from her hospital bed that the attacker was aged about 30 and was about 170 centimeters in height. He reportedly wore a green jacket.

The bloody incident sent shockwaves through the normally quiet residential area.

"I've lived here for 23 years and this is the first time something like this has happened here," a woman who runs an eatery near the station said.

Police are investigating whether the incident was a random attack or was carried out by a person with a grudge against the victim. (Mainichi Shimbun, April 22, 2003)