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Sumo bullies charged in beating death
A former sumo stable master and three wrestlers have been charged in the beating death of a teenage apprentice whose brutal hazing shocked Japan.
Prosecutors in Nagoya indicted Junichi Yamamoto, 57, who ran the stable under the name Tokitsukaze, and three wrestlers in last June's death of 17-year-old Takashi Saito, Jiji Press said, quoting authorities.
The four men were charged with injury resulting in death after repeatedly beating Saito, who collapsed and died during practice.
While wrestlers have been arrested before over beatings, it was believed to be the first time that athletes of the ritual-bound sport have been arrested over a death.
Saito's death triggered public outrage, with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda demanding that the sumo world reform itself.
Yamamoto, who was dismissed by the Japan Sumo Association last October, has admitted he hit the teenager on the knee and head with a beer bottle.
The elder wrestlers - aged 22, 24 and 25 - allegedly would beat the apprentice with a baseball bat. Saito had repeatedly tried to run away from the stable.
Violent treatment of apprentices and junior wrestlers in the name of training has long been seen as customary at sumo stables, but the sport is now struggling to attract new recruits.
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