It's funny now, but according to Mukflash, a research assistant at Toshiba's Akimu Robotic Research Institute was trapped in a lab by a robot with two 100kg hydraulic arms, only to be hugged repeatedly. Updated

The trouble all started when a young female intern began to spend several hours each day with Kenji, testing his systems and loading new software routines. When it came time to leave one evening, however, Kenji refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly. The intern was only able to escape after she had frantically phoned two senior staff members to come and temporarily de-activate Kenji.

I know, the future is sounding pretty grim at the moment. But replace the word "Kenji" with "Cylon 6" and "hug" with one of many more provocative verbs, and I think we've finally found a humane interpretation of capital punishment. [Muckflash via Geekologie]

Note: I can't tell if that shot is actually of the robot in question - anyone know?

Update: The story is a fake, and the robot shown is actually of a Japanese medical robot. Thanks tipster!

Send an email to Mark Wilson, the author of this post, at mark@gizmodo.com.