Photo/Illutration Rina Gonoi, left, submits signatures to a senior Defense Ministry official on Aug. 31. (Naoki Matsuyama)

Prosecutors will determine anew whether to indict three male Ground Self-Defense Force members over a sexual abuse complaint filed by a former GSDF member following an inquest panel decision.

The Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, ruled on Sept. 7 that the decision by prosecutors not to indict the three men was unjust. The committee said it is “hard to say that the case had been thoroughly investigated.”

Former GSDF member Rina Gonoi, 22, said that she was sexually harassed by her three colleagues during training in August 2021 when she worked at GSDF Camp Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture.

She said the three men pushed her to the ground and repeatedly pressed their crotches against her.

The three men were referred to prosecutors, but they decided in May not to indict them.

Gonoi filed a petition for review with the citizen committee.

The committee said in its written decision that “it is necessary to examine the reliability of the victim’s accounts more carefully,” since the three men denied any indecent acts and there was no objective evidence.

It added, "After we scrutinized the records on the decision not to indict them, we concluded that it is hard to say that the case had been thoroughly investigated." 

Gonoi said she was sexually abused on multiple occasions, including this instance.

She also submitted a petition to the Defense Ministry bearing more than 100,000 signatures calling for an investigation.

Following that, the ministry decided to launch a sweeping investigation on sexual harassment of all SDF personnel.

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