Amazon pulls 'rape' computer game
This article is more than 14 years oldA computer game in which players compete to rape women and get them to abort their babies has been pulled from sale on Amazon.com.
Rapelay, a Japanese "rape simulation" game which revolves around the premise of "hunting" down and raping a single mother and her two daughters, had been available via the online retailer's US site until an investigation by the Belfast Telegraph drew attention to it yesterday.
One website review of the PC game describes "tears glistening in the young girl's eyes" as she is attacked in graphic detail.
In the game, players begin stalking a mother on a subway station before violently raping her. They then move on to attack her two daughters, described as virgin schoolgirls.
Players are also allowed to enter "freeform mode" where they can rape any woman and get other male game characters to join the attacks, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Pregnancy and abortion are listed as "key features". One review said: "If she does become pregnant you're supposed to force her to get an abortion, otherwise she gets more and more visibly pregnant each time you have sex.
"If you allow the child to be born then the woman will throw you in front of a train!"
The game's producer, Illusion, is a Japanese company famous for making similar 3D Hentai games.
Labour MP Keith Vaz said he was shocked that Amazon let people purchase the game and plans to raise the issue in Parliament after being contacted by the Belfast Telegraph website.
Mr Vaz said: "It is intolerable that anyone would purchase a game that simulates the criminal offence of rape.
"To know that this widely available through a major online retailer is utterly shocking. I do not see how this can be allowed.
"I will be raising this matter in Parliament and hope that action is taken to prevent the game from being sold."
Amazon.com stopped selling the game and removed its sale page from its website.
Patricia Smith, a spokeswoman for Amazon.com, said: "The game was listed for sale by a private seller via a third party website and not Amazon directly. We have guidelines for all sellers and the vast majority of people abide by them. As soon as we were made aware that this game was listed, we realised that it was inappropriate and immediately took down the page."
She added that there were millions of private sellers on Amazon and it was not company policy to vet them individually before they started selling.
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