Comedy trio Janpoke Saito Shinji, 41, member, sent to prosecution for sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s on a location bus with just the two of them

Shinji Saito, a member of the comedy trio Jungle Pocket, who has been inactive since last month due to ill health, has been sent to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department for sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s.

The person referred to the police on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse and non-consensual obscenity is Shinji Saito, 41, a member of the comedy trio Jungle Pocket.

According to investigators, in July this year, Saito was suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s on a location bus used for filming programmes in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

At the time, the two were alone on the bus, and the incident came to light when the woman reported the assault to the Metropolitan Police.

Saito told the police that he regretted his indiscretion and the trouble he caused to the other party and her family.

Last month, Saito’s office announced that he was suspending his activities, saying that he had been suffering from poor health, including hospitalisation, and that he had expressed a wish to suspend his activities for the time being.