If the police had had their way, the sudden death of a young sumo wrestler three years ago would have been simply a tragic event quickly swept under the rug, dismissed, as it initially was, as heart failure from unknown causes.
But when the parents of Takashi Saito saw their son's heavily battered corpse, they demanded police order an autopsy. It was apparent more sinister events led to the death: the young man's heart had stopped, but it was because he was beaten to death.
The teen's stable master and other wrestlers were charged with the beating, sparking a major scandal that rocked the sumo world.
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