TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A Cambodian technical trainee on Monday filed a damages suit against a manager at a strawberry farm north of Tokyo, alleging multiple instances of rape that led to pregnancy and abortion.

The 23-year-old woman is seeking about 80 million yen ($520,000) in damages from the 58-year-old manager at the farm in Tochigi Prefecture in a complaint filed with the Tokyo District Court, her lawyer said.

The woman, who began working at the farm in July 2022, claims she was continuously sexually assaulted by the manager "almost every day" for about five months through April 2023.

After finding out she was pregnant in January 2023, she was forced to undergo an abortion without being given a sufficient explanation in her mother tongue, and the assaults allegedly continued even after the abortion.

The man told Kyodo News on Sunday that the sexual acts were consensual.

The woman sought protection and was given shelter by a labor union in Gifu Prefecture in April 2023 and later resumed work as a trainee in a different prefecture, but she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder in June this year.

She filed a complaint with the Tochigi prefectural police in 2023 over the allegations, and the case was referred to prosecutors in December of that year, an investigative source said. However, the police included an opinion recommending against indictment, citing insufficient evidence.

Japan's technical internship program, introduced in 1993 to transfer skills to developing countries, has long been criticized as a cover for importing low-cost labor amid a shrinking working-age population. Many trainees have fled due to abusive treatment, including unpaid wages and harassment.