Japanese Woman Arrested for Allegedly Sewing Roommate’s Mouth Shut With a Needle and Thread

A woman in Japan has been arrested for allegedly sewing her roommate’s mouth shut with a needle and thread.

Police in Japan apprehended 49-year-old Masae Sakurai for an incident that allegedly took place on June 29. According to a report from Japan Today, an unnamed 42-year-old woman fled the home the next day to seek help.

While reportedly wearing a white face mask to cover her injuries, which rendered her unable to speak, the woman went to a nearby shop and passed a note to a store employee asking for help.

The woman told police the alleged assault had taken place a day earlier but claimed she hadn’t escaped the situation sooner out of fear of Sakurai. She had reportedly been living with Sakurai since April of 2025. It’s unclear what prompted the attack, but authorities are looking into the situation to try to determine a motive.

According to Kyodo News, police have not disclosed whether or not Sakurai has responded to the allegations against her.

Meanwhile, authorities quickly learned that there may have been other people in the house at the time of the incident. The other roommates are all reportedly being questioned about what happened and whether they had any involvement. An acquaintance of Sakurai told Kyodo News that they’d visited the house in November and saw “two or three women and a male” living there.

Additionally, a woman who used to work with Sakurai claims she learned about three years ago that the suspect was taking women with nowhere else to go into her home to look after them.