A former Japanese pop idol who was viciously attacked by a stalker is taking her case to court, the South China Morning Post reports. Mayu Tomita, 23, was stabbed 60 times by a deranged fan in May 2016 and says police ignored warnings about her safety. Now she's suing Tokyo's city government, which oversees the police, along with her agent and the attacker, for nearly $700,000. "I would like police to realize that if they fail to respond adequately, it could result in something similar to what happened to me," she tells Asahi Shumbun. Police apparently shrugged it off when obsessed fan Tomohiro Iwazaki sent her more than 400 threatening tweets before the attack. Police also declined her request for protection two days before a concert in a Tokyo suburb.
Attacked on her way there, Tomita was left partly blind in one eye with a list of health woes including PTSD and problems singing and eating. "When I see a person holding a pen, even if it is a friend or my doctor, I become really nervous because I fear I may be stabbed," she says. "It is difficult to return to what life was like before the incident." Iwazaki was sentenced to more than 14 years for the attack. But Tomita's assault is only one tragedy in a country where stalking is on the rise, CNN reports. Lawmakers have been tightening stalking laws to include email and social media threats, and other pop stars are speaking up about it. "Idols are very relatable," a cultural studies expert in Tokyo told CNN earlier this year. "This incident could help other young women to think, if she came out, then I can come out too." (More stalking stories.)
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