The only female councilor in a Japanese town has been voted out of office after accusing the mayor of sexual assault, in a recall organized by colleagues who said that she had sullied the town’s reputation.
Shoko Arai in November last year said that the mayor of Kusatsu had “forced [her] into sexual relations” in his office several years prior, allegations that he denies.
She made the claims at a news conference, saying she had been too afraid to go to the police immediately after the incident.
Arai, who was Kusatsu’s only female councilor until the vote, last year said that 73-year-old Kusatsu Mayor Nobutada Kuroiwa had “suddenly pulled me closer, kissed me and pushed [me] down on the floor” and she “couldn’t push him back.”
Kuroiwa has said the claims were impossible because his office door and curtains were open on the day of the alleged incident.
He has filed a defamation complaint with local police.
Arai was removed from office by fellow politicians in the town, who accused her of “scandalous” remarks that hurt “the dignity” of the council.
That decision was then overturned by regional authorities, but local politicians collected enough signatures from voters to stage a recall vote, public broadcaster NHK said.
A town spokesman told reporters that “2,542 out of 2,835 residents who voted supported the recall.”
Arai, 51, called the vote as “unjust” and said that she “will not be terrorized by pressure from people with power,” the Asahi Shimbun daily reported.
Her former colleagues defended the decision, with a representative for the lawmakers who organized the vote telling NHK they “want to work on restoring the damaged reputation of the town.”
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