TEPCO faces another suit for suicide

November 14, 2014

Relatives of man who killed himself to sue TEPCO

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141114_30.html

Nov. 14, 2014 - Updated 10:49 UTC+1

Relatives of a man who killed himself after the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant plan to sue its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company.

On April 11th, 2011, one month after the accident, the central government showed a plan to designate Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture as an evacuation zone.

The following day, Fumio Okubo committed suicide at his home at the age of 102. He was the oldest person in the village at the time. He had said he could not evacuate from where he'd lived for a century.

The 3 relatives plan to file a suit with the Tokyo District Court as soon as next month. They say they'll seek damages of at least 30 million yen, or about 260,000 dollars.

The 3 say that had the accident not happened, Okubo would have been able to live out his life in the village he'd always loved.

One of the relatives, Okubo's daughter-in-law Mieko, says she wishes he'd passed away happily in Iitate with his family at his side. She adds that for his bereaved relatives to live positively, she wants to prove that he would not have killed himself without the accident.

Iitate remains an evacuation zone 3 years and 8 months later.

Tokyo Electric officials expressed condolences for Okubo's death. They said they'll listen to his relatives and respond sincerely, regardless of the suit.