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Tokyo: Four US Marines accused of raping a Japanese woman in Hiroshima last year will be court-martialled, the Marine Corps said on Thursday.
Two of the four Marines accused will face a general court-martial in late April and early May, a Marine Corps spokesman said, while the dates for the remaining two have not been scheduled yet.
In October 2007, media reported that a 19-year-old woman had been raped by four marines.
Despite Japanese prosecutors dropping the case due to insufficient evidence, the US military charged the four with several violations including rape, sexual assault and sexual misconduct in December.
This is the latest development in a series of cases involving sexual misconduct by US Marines stationed in Japan.
Just last month, the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl on the island of Okinawa sparked great outrage and revived bitter memories of a similar case involving a 12-year-old girl in 1995.
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