Mayu Tomita, a Japanese pop star, was critically injured in a frenzied knife attack in Tokyo by a suspect who had previously contacted the 20-year-old singer online and unsuccessfully tried to give her a gift. She was stabbed nearly two dozen times, said Japanese news agency KYODO.
Tomita lost consciousness during the attack, said KYODO, in which she sustained stab wounds on her neck, chest, and back, reported
NHK news agency.
Metropolitan Police arrested Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27. They told KYODO that Tomita had complained about someone named Iwazaki repeatedly sending her messages on her blog and Twitter account.
A police source told KYODO that Iwazaki admitted to the attack, saying that he was angry that she returned a gift he gave to her.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Daily reported that Iwazaki said he purchased the knife with the intention of killing Tomita, according to
NBC News. A Twitter account thought to be owned by to Iwazaki included a January message to Tomita about the gift, which was a wrist watch, said NBC News.
Tomita was scheduled to perform at an event before she was attacked, said
People magazine.
Billboard said Tomita had been picked to star in the online series "Secret Girls," a show about five junior high school students who lead the secret lives as J-Pop stars.
Tomita's attack recalled a 2014 attack in Takizawa, Iwate prefecture, in which a man slashed three members of the genre-leading group AKB48, but the singers were not serious hurt, noted Billboard.
Fans and supporters spoke out about the stabbing on social media.
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