A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for stalking and killing his former girlfriend in Fukuoka Prefecture in January 2023.

Prosecutors had been seeking 30 years in prison for Susumu Terauchi, describing his action as a “brutal and highly malicious crime.”

On the evening of Jan. 16, 2023, Terauchi stabbed Miki Kawano, 38, to death on a street near Hakata Station in the city of Fukuoka’s Hakata Ward while Kawano was on her way back home from work.

He stabbed her more than 17 times using a kitchen knife. The wounds were up to 20 centimeters deep, prosecutors said.

Police had earlier issued a restraining order against Terauchi after he called her multiple times after the two split up. Prosecutors said the breakup was the man's motive for killing Kawano.

Terauchi admitted to stabbing Kawano to death but denied the stalking charge, saying he stabbed her in a sudden outburst when he bumped into her and that it was not premeditated. He claimed that he had been carrying the knife for self-protection.

Presiding Judge Atsushi Tomita urged Terauchi to face the consequences of his action and repent over what he did, the local RKB Mainichi Broadcasting outlet reported.

After the ruling, Terauchi, who will not appeal the case, told his lawyer how sorry he is for the victim and her bereaved family members, and that he will reflect in prison on what he did, the report said.

Terauchi was also found guilty for hitting and seriously injuring a man on a street in the same ward in August 2022.

Criminal cases stemming from stalking have been on the rise in Japan, with 1,708 cases reported in 2023, up from 1,491 in 2019, according to government data.