FUKUSHIMA -- An exorcist accused of killing six cult followers at her home by beating them should die for her actions, prosecutors told the Fukushima District Court on Friday.
In oral proceedings at the trial of Sachiko Eto, prosecutors demanded the death sentence for the 54-year-old exorcist. They also requested life imprisonment for two cult members standing trial -- former Ground Self-Defense Force member Yutaka Nemoto, 27, and unemployed woman Hiroko Otomo, 29. A third 51-year-old member, Mitsuo Sekine, should spend 20 years behind bars for his part in the crime, they told the court.
"It was an evil and unjust crime in which the dignity of human beings was ignored," a representative prosecutor said. "It was extremely cruel."
Eto is accused of beating four ailing cult followers with drumsticks in January 1995 to "drive the evil spirits from them." She also allegedly hit and kicked them, and they eventually died. The other three members accused used the same tactics to kill two other followers five months later, prosecutors said.
Those who doubted Eto's "spiritual ability," including Sekine's wife, and cult members who refused to loan money to the cult, reportedly became the target of the beatings.
Eto denies any murderous intent in the killings.
"I did it as part of a religious service. I never thought they were going to die," she said.
Prosecutors have rejected Eto's claims.
"She carried out the beatings while watching the victims die one by one," a prosecutor said. "The intent to murder is clear." (Mainichi Shimbun, Nov. 16, 2001)