database (since at that time, only the convicted criminals' fingerprints were recorded in the database). The police also managed to get a description from Takishita that her two attackers were racially of either Malay or Tamil descent (both Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahman were Malay). Takishita returned to Japan the next day with her tour group (she would return to Singapore two years later to testify against one of her attackers in the court). Despite the appeals for witnesses and information with offers of rewards and a police sketch of the robbers being published on newspapers, the case went unsolved for the next 18 months. Arrests and trials Arrests of Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahman On 25 January 1996, Abdul Nasir was arrested for attempting to rob and murder a taxi driver, and while he was undergoing investigations for this particular case, Abdul Nasir's fingerprints were taken and found to match those found in Fujii and Takishita's room. Abdul Nasir later confessed that he was involved in the robbery, and named Abdul Rahman as his accomplice. Abdul Rahman was later found to be in prison serving a 20-month jail sentence for theft. Both men - Abdul Nasir and Abdul Rahman - were charged with murder on 30 January and 31 January 1996 respectively. The crime of murder was considered a capital offence at that time under Singapore law, which warrants the mandatory death penalty. Fate of Abdul Rahman However, when further investigations revealed that it was solely Abdul Nasir who assaulted and killed Fujii, Abdul Rahman's charge was promptly reduced to one of robbery with hurt, and he pleaded guilty. On 6 June 1996, exactly two years after the incident, Abdul Rahman was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with 16 strokes of the cane by Judicial Commissioner (JC) Amarjeet Singh. It can be confirmed that since June 2006, Abdul Rahman is out of prison after serving his sentence. The reduction of Abdul Rahman's charge left Abdul Nasir the sole person to face trial for murder. Abdul Nasir's trial The trial of Abdul Nasir started on 24 June 1996. The trial received considerable media coverage on the Japanese news, as well as in the news of Singapore, as Japan was very upset about the incident. At the murder trial, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Francis Tseng, argued that Abdul Nasir had intentionally stamped onto the face of Fujii