Police in Tokyo detained two Russian women for assaulting a taxi driver with an umbrella after refusing to pay a $16 taxi fare, news reports said Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Monday night, when two 30-year-old women caught a taxi and then tried to flee without paying the 1,500 yen ($16) taxi fare, Interfax reported.
When the taxi driver attempted to stop them, one of the women hit him several times with an umbrella, causing minor injuries.
Police detained both women, but they deny the charges.
The Russian Embassy in Japan confirmed the information.
"We received information from the Japanese police, who detained two female Russian citizens for causing violence to a taxi driver," an embassy spokesperson said in comments carried by the Rapsi legal news agency.
"They are currently in custody, and an investigation is under way. This is a more or less common incident. We are monitoring the situation and the investigation," the embassy spokesperson said.
According to the embassy, one of the women lives in Japan and the other was visiting on a short-term visa.
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