TOKYO -- Public prosecutors on Dec. 27 indicted two men on suspicion of murder and illegal confinement for allegedly coerced another man to enter a railway crossing, where he was fatally hit by a train.

Indicted were Akihito Shimahata, 34, and Shunta Nozaki, 39, employees of painting company MA Kenso. Victim Osamu Takano, a 56-year-old co-worker, apparently entered the tracks by himself, but prosecutors indicted Shimahata and Nozaki, who were at the scene, as indirect principal offenders. It's reportedly rare to apply this to murder charges in Japan.

The incident occurred in December 2023. Prosecutors decided to shelve charges of murder against two others at the company, representative director Manabu Sasaki, 39, and employee Atsuya Iwaide, 30, who did not accompany Takano to the scene, charging them only with illegal confinement.

According to the indictment and other information, the four conspired to hold Takano captive in a vehicle near his home in Tokyo's Itabashi Ward between Dec. 2 and 3, 2023. Shimahata and Nozaki then allegedly took Takano to a bridge in Toda, Saitama Prefecture, and pressured him to leap into the water. When he didn't, they took him to an area near a railway crossing in Itabashi Ward and at about 12:10 a.m., they allegedly made him enter the crossing, where he was killed by an oncoming train.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office has not disclosed whether the four have admitted to the allegations against them.

Based on analysis of the accused men's smartphones, the Metropolitan Police Department determined that the four had routinely assaulted Takano and controlled him financially through nonpayment of wages and other means. Judging that Takano had been mentally driven into a state where he couldn't resist the alleged perpetrators, they arrested all four on suspicion of murder and illegal confinement.

Katsuyoshi Kato, a professor at Senshu University's Law School specializing in criminal law, pointed out that when applying the murder charge, prosecutors likely focused on daily interactions and power relationships and inferred that the victim had fallen into a psychological state where he couldn't freely make decisions.

As for Sasaki and Iwaide, he said, "They didn't go to the scene, and (prosecutors) probably judged that it would be difficult to prove at this stage that they were involved in murder. Going forward, it will be important to prove whether both defendants were aware that the victim would be taken to the bridge and crossing."

(Japanese original by Ayumu Iwasaki and Sakura Iwamoto, Tokyo City News Department)