JAPAN:Police in Japan were last night searching for a man in connection with the death of a 22-year-old British woman, whose body was found in a bathtub on the balcony of his suburban apartment.
Japanese media reports say the woman, Lindsay Ann Hawker, who worked as an English conversation teacher in Tokyo, was buried naked and face-up in sand, leaving just her hand sticking out of the tub. They say bruising on her body and face indicates she was beaten and suffered internal bleeding but police have yet to announce the cause of death.
The suspect, 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi, is a former student of Ms Hawker at her school. He was reportedly taking private lessons. Police say he fled the apartment on Monday night when they came to question him and is still on the run. The police have not commented on media speculation that Ms Hawker may have been involved in a relationship with the suspect.
Ms Hawker left her flat, which she shared with two other foreign teachers, in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Sunday evening, leaving behind a note with the address of Mr Ichihashi's apartment. When she didn't return on Monday or answer calls to her mobile phone, her flatmates and her employer in Koiwa, in downtown Tokyo, called the police.
The midlands woman is one of hundreds of British and Irish people who come to Japan every year to teach English on short-term contracts. She was employed at Nova, one of the country's largest language chains since October last year, after graduating from university.
Comparisons will inevitably be made with English woman Lucie Blackman, who was 21 when she disappeared as a Tokyo hostess in July 2000. Her dismembered body was found outside the city.