KOBE -- A Hyogo Prefectural Assembly member has resigned reportedly due to online slander after looking into former Gov. Motohiko Saito's alleged power harassment case.

Hyogo Gov. Saito, 47, had been accused in documents of allegations including power harassment, but was reelected on Nov. 17. Hideaki Takeuchi, 50, who stepped down as an assembly member on Nov. 18, was also a member of the special committee to investigate the truth behind the scandal.

While Takeuchi cited a "personal matter" as the reason for his resignation, other members of the special committee said that the actual reason is that he was slandered on social media during the recent gubernatorial election campaign and on other occasions.

Takeuchi was elected as a prefectural assembly member five times from the city of Himeji and belonged to the prefectural assembly's Hyogo Citizens Union, a group mostly consisting of assembly members from the main opposition party, Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

At a press conference held after the special committee meeting on Nov. 18, prefectural assembly member Hidekazu Ueno said, "Verbal attacks and internet violence spread throughout the election campaign. Takeuchi consulted with me, saying that it was difficult for him to even leave his home and that he would give priority to protecting his family."

A large number of posts were reportedly spreading on social media with groundless claims that Takeuchi had been involved in making the accusations, along with a series of slanderous comments against him.

The prefectural assembly established the special committee in June for the first time in 51 years. Committee members were in the process of getting to the bottom of the allegations by questioning Saito and others who had been asked to appear as witnesses.

Committee chairperson and assembly member Kenichi Okutani said in the news conference, "We have received various criticism about the committee, particularly on social media. Some include misunderstanding. It frightens me that false rumors are spreading through social media."

(Japanese original by Takuhide Nakao, Kobe Bureau)