Tokyo police have arrested a man suspected of tracking down a female pop star, whom he later allegedly assaulted, by scrutinising reflections in her eyes from social media posts.

Hibiki Sato, a 26-year-old unemployed man from Saitama, north of Tokyo, has been arrested on charges of causing injury by forcible indecency after allegedly attacking Ena Matsuoka, 21, a singer with the group Tenshi Tsukinukeni Yomi, on September 1.

Police suspect Sato was able to narrow down the area in Tokyo where Ms Matsuoka lived by going through her social media photographs and enlarging the images, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

The enhanced photos revealed scenery and landmarks reflected in her eyes. Sato then allegedly narrowed down the area using Google Street View, identifying the station closest to her home, before stalking Ms Matsuoka.

Police suspect Sato followed Ms Matsuoka from the station after she had finished a concert and attacked her as she entered her apartment building. Sato allegedly placed a towel over her head, threw her to the ground and molested her.

“People should be fully aware that posting pictures and video on social media runs the risk of divulging personal data”, a police investigator said.

The incident is just the latest involving obsessed fans of young female performers in Japan.