govinda prasad mainali has spent the last 15 years behind bars. the nepalese man has been serving a life sentence for the murder of a woman in tokyo. but the tokyo high court has approved a retrial. he has been released and transferred to an immigration facility. she was found murdered in a tokyo apartment in 1997. govinda prasad mainali lived nearby and had keys to the place. police arrested him two months later. a district court found him not guilty in 2000. a high court reviewed the case and it decided circumstantial evidence including an eyewitness account proved that mainali committed the crime. in 2003 the supreme court upheld that decision and handed him a life sentence. mainali filed for a retrial in 2005. dna tests last year showed bodily fluids found on the victim and hair at the murder site belonged to someone other than him. the presiding judge said if the dna results were presented at the earlier trial, the decision would have been different. prosecutors have appealed the decision to retry mainali. they also asked the court not to rel

govinda prasad mainali was convicted of robbing and murdering a woman in an empty apartment in tokyo in 1997. the supreme court finalized the verdict in 2003 and gave him a life sentence. however, the high court on thursday granted him a retrial. it set said a new dna test shows there is a possibility that someone other than mainali killed the woman. the 45-year-old father reunited with his nepalese wife and two daughters who are visiting japan at an immigration facility in yokohama on friday. the immigration bureau started procedures to deport him to nepal because he did not have a proper visa when he was arrested 15 years ago. his family says they're asking the nepalese embassy for help so he can return home with his family as soon as possible. >>> some troubling news from japan's national police agency. a new report shows that the overall number of people who committed suicide last year dropped. but the number of youths who took their own lives increased dramatically. the news appears in the national police agency's annual report on suicides. it says that more than 30,000 people a

govinda prasad mainali was convicted of robbing and murdering a woman in 1997. the supreme court handed down its verdict in 2003. mainali has consistently proclaimed his innocence. he failed for retrial in 2005. last year, prosecutors conducted additional dna tests of bodily fluids found on the victim and hair collected at the murder site. the result showed both the fluid and the hair belonged to a man other than mainali. the presiding judge said he cannot deny the possibility that another person killed the victim. he said if the latest dna results were presented in the earlier trial, the decision would not have been the same. >>> and that's all for now on this edition of "newsline." i'm yuko aotani in tokyo. we'll be back with more news at the top of the hour so, do join us then. thank you very much for watching.