Prosecutors demanded 2 1/2 years in prison Monday for a former graduate student of Kyoto University who stands accused of illegally selling chloroform via the Internet to several men who tried to rape women.
In the final trial session of Eichi Kato, 33, at the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors also asked he be fined 450,000 yen for allegedly violating the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law, saying the unlicensed Kato misused drugs freely obtained at the university to pay for his social expenses.
The defense team has admitted the charges in the indictment and is asking for a suspended term.
According to prosecutors, Kato, a native of Kyoto Prefecture, sold chloroform to four men who responded to an advertisement he made on his Internet home page, for a total of 120,000 yen between September and November 1998.
One of the customers, a 29-year-old transport company employee from Tokyo's Nerima Ward, unsuccessfully tried to rape a Tokyo woman by drugging her with the substance.
The district court is to hand down its ruling June 22.