Tokyo - Japanese doctors have concluded that a man accused of stabbing eight children to death is mentally fit, clearing the way for him to stand trial for one of Japan's most brutal crimes in recent years, Kyodo news agency said yesterday.
Quoting sources close to the investigation, Kyodo said that doctors, who had carried out a psychological assessment of Mr Mamoru Takuma (37), concluded that he was able to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the attack at an elementary school.
Eight children were killed when Takuma burst into their school in Ikeda, a suburb of the western metropolis of Osaka in June, and started stabbing at random.
Two teachers and 13 other students were wounded before he was subdued and arrested.
The doctors have notified prosecutors of their conclusion, Kyodo said, quoting the sources as saying that prosecutors may indict Takuma as early as next month. Takuma, who has confessed to the crime, had previously been arrested for lacing teachers' tea with tranquillisers at a school where he worked as a janitor.