Cult leader kept mummified body for months
Tokyo prosecutors are seeking a 15-year-prison term for a cult leader who kept a mummified corpse for months in a hotel room.
Koji Takahashi, the 63-year-old founder of the Life Space sect, was arrested in February 2000 along with nine followers.
The arrests were in connection with the discovery in late 1999 of the partially mummified body of a 66-year-old man.
The man's wife and son - both members of the cult - were holding a vigil over his corpse when police found it in a hotel room near Tokyo's main airport.
He had been receiving treatment for a stroke at a hospital when Life Space followers forcibly removed him in July 1999.
Takahashi, a silver-bearded former tax accountant turned guru, told reporters at that time that the man required "complete rest".
He claimed to have supernatural powers to cure illnesses by pounding people on their heads.
Prosecutors who have charged him with murder asked for a 15-year prison sentence during a hearing at Chiba District Court east of Tokyo.
At its peak, Life Space was said to have had 10,000 followers, but that number of has dropped to about 150, according to reports.
