Arrested for harassing emergency switchboard 2,761 calls due to... lonely

Tokyo [Japan], July 16: After being arrested for 2,761 calls to an emergency switchboard in Japan, a Japanese woman confessed to police that she did it because she was lonely and wanted attention, according to The Mainichi newspaper.
Hiroko Hatagami, 51, unemployed and living in Matsudo City (Chiba Prefecture), was arrested on July 13 on suspicion of obstructing the operation of the local fire department.
The Chiba Prefectural Police allege that Ms. Hatagami repeatedly called the emergency switchboard number . Calls were made from her home and other places in her neighborhood.
The Mainichi newspaper reported several calls about health problems she made up about, such as severe stomach pain, drug overdose, and leg pain.
From August 2020 to May 2023, she regularly requested the Matsudo Fire Department to send an ambulance to assist. However, when the ambulance arrived, she refused to check her health, or insisted that she did not make the call.
Both the fire department and the police department warned Ms. Hatagami to stop harassing calls, but she continued the behavior whenever she felt... lonely .
In the end, this woman was arrested after a long time "persevering" to call the emergency switchboard .
At the police station, Mrs. Hatagami admitted her work.
This is not the first time someone has been arrested in Japan for making thousands of calls to the emergency switchboard .
In 2013, a woman was jailed after calling more than 15,000 times in six months. One day she made 927 calls. The police had to visit the defendant's home about 60 times before deciding to arrest her.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper