CHIBA, Japan, Sept. 28 (Kyodo) - The Chiba District Court on Friday sentenced a
former cult follower to two and a half years in prison, suspended for three
years, for actions resulting in his father's death.
The court found Kenji Kobayashi, a 32-year-old former member of a cult called
Life Space, guilty of not allowing his father, Shinichi Kobayashi, 66, to
receive proper medical treatment, resulting in his death from suffocation.
According to the ruling, Kobayashi conspired with cult leader Koji Takahashi,
63, and took his father out of a hospital in western Japan where he was being
treated for cerebral bleeding, moving him to a hotel in Narita, Chiba
Prefecture, on July 2, 1999, the ruling said.
The elder Kobayashi died of suffocation the following day after being subjected
to an attempted religious cure in which Takahashi touched his body, the ruling
said.
Kobayashi's mummified body was found in a room of the hotel on Nov. 11, 1999.
Takahashi was arrested later along with seven followers, including Kobayashi's
son.
On Thursday, the prosecutors demanded 15 years in prison for Takahashi, who is
charged with the murder of Kobayashi, a former company employee in Kawanishi,
Hyogo Prefecture.
The prosecutors made the demand in their final argument in the trial of
Takahashi at the same district court.
AP-NY-09-28-01 0211EDT
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service.