Photo/Illutration The Okazaki Police Station in Aichi Prefecture where a man died under police custody (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OKAZAKI, Aichi Prefecture--A police station security camera caught multiple officers kicking a handcuffed 43-year-old diabetic man who died in custody there earlier this month after being denied medication, according to sources.

Some of the officers have admitted they committed violence against the man, the sources said.

One of them told prefectural police that they had become “frustrated because (the man) behaved violently and didn’t do as he was told.”

Prefectural police are investigating the officers and may arrest them on suspicion of assaulting detainees while on duty.

The unemployed man had been restrained at Okazaki Police Station for more than 100 hours straight, and his total time in restraints exceeded 140 hours, according to police sources.

An officer in charge of the detained man told prefectural police that the officers felt the man had been restrained for too long, but his restraints could not be taken off because their supervisor did not explicitly give such orders.

Prefectural police believe the man’s treatment in custody may be indicative of an institutional problem.

The man was detained at Okazaki Police Station in late November after he was arrested on suspicion of obstructing an officer's public duties, according to police sources.

The suspect was behaving violently and shouting in his cell, so officers moved him to a “protection room” at the police station to isolate him, police sources said. This happened at the end of the month.

After the man “voluntarily” took off his clothes, officers restrained him with a handcuff belt and a rope while he was still naked.

Security camera footage from inside the protection room shows multiple officers repeatedly kicking the man on the floor in an attempt to change the direction of his body.

The man was apparently left in restraints on the floor for a long time and, since he could not get up to use the toilet, he defecated, and the mess was not cleaned up.

An autopsy found scratch marks on his hip, but the area was not treated with disinfectant.

The law on penal detention facilities allows officers to physically restrain inmates with handcuffs and ropes under certain conditions, such as when a person might engage in self-harm.

The law does not set out how long officers can keep a person restrained, but it states that its purpose is to ensure the adequate treatment of inmates by respecting their human rights.

Prefectural police are investigating the case on suspicion that the Okazaki Police Station’s treatment of the man may have gone against the purpose of the law and are eyeing possible disciplinary actions.

Prefectural police have been interviewing the officers involved as part of the investigation and are examining the link between the officers’ treatment of the man and his death.

Sources said prefectural police intend to take into consideration a wide range of offenses in determining which legal allegations could be applied.

Although the officers at Okazaki Police Station knew the man suffered from diabetes, they did not allow him to see a doctor about the illness or be given medicine.

He was found lying motionless in the protection room in the early hours of Dec. 4.

His autopsy determined he died of kidney failure.

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